Chelsea have received a big boost in their pursuit of Kai Havertz after Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge admitted his club are no longer in the race for the Bayer Leverkusen winger.
Bayern signed Man City’s Leroy Sane in midweek and Rummenigge told Bild: “We have a really big financial challenge ahead of us.
“Even if we wanted the player, we could not finance it this year.”
The Blues chances of signing Havertz also increased last week with Bayer Leverkusen finishing fifth and missing out on the Champions League.
Previous reports have suggested that means his asking price could drop from £90m to £70m.
Multiple reports also claim that the attacking midfielder wants to sit down for talks with Bayer Leverkusen chiefs to discuss his future, according to reports.
And that could equally spell good news for Chelsea fans if the German sensation tells his current club he wants to leave in the summer – especially with ‘Agent Rudiger’ ready to work his magic.
Jose Mourinho said he will break the rules to give Carlo Ancelotti a hug when his Tottenham team host Everton tomorrow.
The two men won trophies for Chelsea, Real Madrid and other clubs as managers.
But their teams are set to lock horns in the Premier League on Monday at White Hart Lana.
Mourinho said: “I think everyone in football admires Carlo as a coach and as a person. If you don’t know him as a person, at least you know him as a coach.
“It’s not because I like him so much as a person that I’m going to say the obvious, which is: he’s one of the top managers in the world of the last two decades and of course now.
“As a manager we all know him, and we don’t need to speak of him, because his office in his house, I don’t know if it’s the house in Milan or London or Liverpool but some office in one of his houses is full of cups so he doesn’t need anyone to speak about Carlo.
“As a person I had the privilege to know him for a few years, to stay and be with him a few times in Uefa meetings in some different occasions and I just love Carlo.
“I think he’s a fantastic guy. I think I’m going to break the rules. Now is one-metre distance. I’m going to break the rules and I’m going to hug him because I like Carlo very much.”
Antonio Rudiger has expressed his desire to see Bayer Leverkusen star Kai Havertz join the Blues.
The Bundesliga sensation has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge and Rudiger is hoping his German compatriot will sign for Chelsea.
Asked about Chelsea transfer target Havertz, Rudiger told Sky Germany: ‘Kai is talented, when I saw him train with the Germany national team I was like, “wow!”
‘I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t want him at Chelsea.’
According to the Sportsmail, Leverkusen chiefs will be dreading their next meeting with star man Havertz, with the youngster keen to discuss his future amid Chelsea interest.
The 21-year-old’s injury-time penalty proved a mere consolation as Bayern Munich romped to German Cup final glory over Leverkusen with a 4-2 victory in Berlin on Saturday.
The BayArena side have failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League via the Bundesliga after finishing fifth, leaving a Europa League triumph their only hope of making it to UEFA’s premier competition in 2020-21.
Interest in Havertz has snowballed over the years and culminated in strong links to Chelsea this summer, with the midfielder requesting a meeting to discuss his future with Leverkusen bosses, according to Bild.
The Blues have emerged as strong favourites to land the star this summer, with Bild also reporting that Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are cooling their pursuit of Havertz this season.
Frank Lampard has already secured the arrival of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner for a combined £81m this summer.
Reports in England claim Crystal Palace are planing to offer £10million for Chelsea’s midfield dynamo Conor Gallagher.
Stamford Bridge has been a happy hunting ground for the Eagles with Gary Cahill a recent addition and Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Michy Batshuayi both coming to Selhurst Park on loan.
Accodring to The Sun, manager Roy Hodgson sees the 20-year-old as an ideal prospect as he tries to strengthen his squad.
He hopes Blues boss Frank Lampard will allow Gallagher to leave permanently after loan spells at Charlton and Swansea this season.
Gallagher — who has two years to run on his Stamford Bridge deal — has shown his potential at Championship level with his strong running and goal threat.
He has represented England at all levels from Under-17 to Under-21.
Gallagher is a Chelsea academy graduate but Lampard already has a good choice of midfielders.
Palace are keen to take him either as a buy or loan.
Said Benrahma was on the lips of Brentford fans after the forward recorded his third hat-trick of the campaign in his club’s 3-0 victory over Wigan Athletic in the Championship.
The Algeria winger, who has been increasingly linked with a move to Chelsea, troubled the Latics throughout as Brentford boosted their promotion hopes.
Benrahma took his tally to 14 goals for the season.
Going into the game, Wigan had not lost in nine and had won six of their past seven, but the hosts – who have not dropped points since the end of February – dominated from the start.
Naismith’s clearing header from Watkins’ cross led to the opening goal as Emiliano Marcondes headed the ball back into the path of Benrahma, who calmly volleyed into the bottom corner.
Brentford’s passing game started to come to the fore and Naismith was again on hand to clear off the line after Dalsgaard’s cross was deflected goalwards shortly before Benrahma’s speculative ball early in the second period floated over goalkeeper David Marshall and into the net.
Watkins then had two more close-range efforts cleared off the line, but the Bees only had to wait five more minutes for Benrahma to add the third as he shot low into the bottom corner after good work down the right flank from Josh Dasilva and Christian Norgaard.
The win – Brentford’s fifth in succession – sees Thomas Frank’s side stay third, but they closed the gap to second-placed West Bromwich Albion to two points ahead of the Baggies’ match with Hull City on Sunday.
Asked about Benrahma’s form, he said: “He’s absolutely hit the ground running after this coronavirus break, but also added extra aspects to his game in terms of arriving into the box – that’s an area we’ve been working a lot on.
“I also need to praise him for his work ethic, I thought he worked extremely hard and that’s always a demand I have for all my players in general and also the front three and they’re doing a top job there.
“He’s been good and he now needs to keep it up – I would prefer three goals per match, that would make it a little bit easier.”
Saïd Benrahma completes his hat trick today against Wigan.
