Chelsea Transfer News: Latest on Nikola Maksimovic and Kalidou Koulibaly Rumours

Chelsea are reportedly ready to abandon their pursuit of Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly and chase Torino defender Nikola Maksimovic instead.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Sport Witness), the latter is currently AWOL from his team’s squad in an attempt to force through a transfer to Napoli. That supposed unrest may work in Chelsea’s favour, though, as they could make a move for Maksimovic instead of Koulibaly.

It’s suggested that if Maksimovic was to move to Napoli, that would pave the way for the Blues to sign Koulibaly. However, Chelsea are said to now be “in the front row” for the Torino man, though the situation is reportedly be “very tense.”

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte needs to add defensive reinforcements to his squad and seems keen to recruit from a division he knows well. Maksimovic may be the less illustrious of the two options mentioned, but as we can see here, the Serbian has a lot to his game:

Share Tweet

At the moment, his future is up in the air. Indeed, Torino boss Sinisa Mihajlovic is far from happy with the player’s decision not to join up with the squad.

“I don’t know whether Maksimovic is making a mistake of his own accord or whether he’s being ill-advised, and frankly I don’t give a damn,” he said to Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com