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Chelsea transfer news: £60m move for Paul Pogba back on as Juventus make late bid to sign Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez - reports

Juventus need to sell to buy and are interested in Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku

Simon Johnson,Staff
Wednesday 09 July 2014 18:11 BST
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Paul Pogba (centre) produced a man-of-the-match performance against Nigeria in the last 16
Paul Pogba (centre) produced a man-of-the-match performance against Nigeria in the last 16 (AFP/Getty)

Chelsea's £60m blockbuster move for Juventus and France star Paul Pogba is back on after the Italian giants entered the race to sign Barcelona striker Alexis Sanchez.

Pogba's agent Mino Raiola has consistently stated the 21-year-old will be staying in Turin but Juventus need to sell players before they can buy, according to the Evening Standard.

With Arsenal and Liverpool also interested in the Chile star, Pogba is the most saleable asset they have. Sanchez will cost around £30m but Antonio Conte is also interested in Argentina's Angel Di Maria and Colombia's Juan Cuadrado as he looks to strengthen a squad that has won the Scudetto in three successive years but failed to get out of the Champions League group stage last season.

Jose Mourinho has already spent £60million this summer on Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa but he wants more strength in Chelsea’s midfield.

Significantly, the Serie A club are also looking at buying Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku and have registered an interest in Ramires.

Manchester United target Arturo Vidal is another who could be moved on to raise cash.

Juventus will demand a minimum of £60m for Pogba and Chelsea face stiff competition from Paris St-Germain and Manchester City for the former United midfielder.

Pogba, who has two years left on his contract, impressed for France during their run to the World Cup quarter-finals. Mourinho still has money to spend and can raise revenue for what would be a club-record signing by selling fringe members in the squad. Chelsea are also prepared to listen to offers for John Obi Mikel and Ramires.

The Blues had also been looking at Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos and offered him a contract worth £135,000 a week.

However, Kroos has set his heart on a move to Real Madrid and the Spanish club believe they will complete a £19.8m deal after the World Cup, despite giving the Germany international significantly reduced terms of £76,000 a week.

Chelsea begin pre-season training on Thursday, although the majority of their players will not report for duty because they were involved at the World Cup.

Lukaku is going on holiday after Belgium’s exit and he will have talks over his future on his return. The striker has spent the last two seasons on loan at West Brom and Everton respectively and is looking for regular first-team football.

Lukaku said: "I have a few ideas but we’ll see. I have to have discussions first and have to think about it. I want to go home and then I will decide. I want to be somewhere where I can play my best football and hopefully win titles."

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