Chelsea sizing up £80m summer move for Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaín
Chelsea are considering whether to launch an incredible €100 million (£83.6 million) bid to sign Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaín as part of a major overhaul of the squad this summer.
The Premier League club are running through a number of attacking options and are weighing up an alternative joint bid — a €70 million (£58.5 million) offer to Napoli for Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi.
All their plans are in the early stages, and no contact has been made with clubs. One of Chelsea’s chief priorities with Didier Drogba set to leave at the end of his contract, along with Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda and — according to sources — possibly even Daniel Sturridge, is a new-look strike force.
Chelsea’s plans will also depend on who they can attract as manager – hopes of luring Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola remain slim – and whether the club qualify for next season’s Champions League. But owner Roman Abramovich is prepared to spend big again, if he can get deals agreed, to make Chelsea more competitive.
Chelsea fly to Lisbon on Monday ahead of the first leg of Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final against Benfica. After the goalless draw with Tottenham on Saturday, it may well be that the best chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League is to win the competition.
Chelsea’s former manager, Andre Villas-Boas, had wanted to sign Hulk from Porto for €40 million (£33.4 million) — having renegotiated the Brazilian attacker’s €100 million release clause — and the former Porto striker Radamel Falcao from Atletico Madrid.