Stunning £55.2m Chelsea bid rejected, £23m man could still have competition

Antonio Conte could miss out on the Brazilian international

Chelsea have reportedly had a £55.2m bid rejected by Juventus for Alex Sandro, but they still have hope of prising the Brazilian away from Turin.

The Brazilian ace was a key part of the Bianconeri’s success last season, as they won a domestic double while also reaching the Champions League final.

Meanwhile, although Marcos Alonso was crucial in helping Chelsea win the Premier League title, they’ll need more competition next season as they secured their return to the Champions League next year.

As a result, The Daily Mail report that Chelsea lodged a £55.2m bid but saw it rejected by the Italian giants, although it’s added that Juve will not stand in the way of the player moving on if he wishes to make the switch to Stamford Bridge.

The report notes that Chelsea spent £23m on Alonso last summer, and so it’s a pretty expensive addition to a position that they’ve already spent heavily on in the last 12 months.

Antonio Conte was fortunate last season in that he didn’t suffer from too many key injuries throughout the campaign. However, especially at the top level in Europe, he can’t afford to be short of options and so the idea of bringing in Sandro is a smart one as he will likely have to add depth across the board this summer as it’s a relatively small senior squad at Chelsea.

However, question marks will surely be raised over the figure involved, regardless of whether or not the 26-year-old scored three goals and provided five assists in 43 appearances in all competitions last season and was a key defensive figure too.

That’s a lot of money for a left back, and in truth it’s a bit of shock that Juve didn’t snap the offer up and accept.