Chelsea are up against Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, and PSG for the signing of Parma midfielder Jose Mauri, reports the Daily Express.
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Wolfsburg, AC Milan, and Napoli are also meant to be interested in the 18-year-old according to the player’s agent Dino Zampacorta. Even though there are so many clubs chasing the youngster’s signature, he is likely to still have a small transfer fee because of the Serie A club’s well publicised financial troubles.
He said: “A lot of big clubs have called me, and not just in this recent period, but since June 2014. Parma didn’t want to let him go, because they wanted to – so they said – introduce him into a stable first team. Napoli? There was contact with them on the last day of January, they wanted to close a deal, but Parma didn’t want to see one of their gems sold for a depreciated value.
“Now there are a lot of Italian clubs on him. Milan and Juventus? It’s not possible for them not to be, it’s normal, they’ve seen what the lad can do. But I want to emphasise, they haven’t just become interested recently. It’s normal that if a team has expressed interest in difficult times they’ll enjoy our consideration.
He continued: “We talked to Wolfsburg, but nothing in-depth. Bayern Munich have requested information, as have other clubs in La Liga and Ligue 1. Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain? Yes, there’s been contact. The lad is well-liked, and at 18 is a great prospect, so the coming months will be important.”
Although the side are bottom of the Italian top flight, Mauri has been a ray of hope in an otherwise terrible season. He has made 27 appearances in the league, and has netted twice in those matches. The Argentine born footballer has also represented Italy in their Under 17’s side.
With the transfer fee not expected to be high, Chelsea may have to pay extra in wages to get their man ahead of the masses of competition.