Chelsea have seen their opening offer for Rayo Vallecano left-back Pep Chavarria rejected. The Blues are looking to fill the void left by Marc Cucurella's move to Real Madrid, with manager Xabi Alonso turning to La Liga for a replacement.
Chavarria Emerges as Surprise Target
The 28-year-old Chavarria has emerged as a surprise target for Chelsea. According to Mundo Deportivo, Alonso himself has targeted the defender as part of his summer rebuild at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea made an opening bid of €9 million (£7.75 million) plus add-ons, an offer that Rayo Vallecano rejected.
Chavarria's Impressive Season
Chavarria has not been capped at any level for Spain but enjoyed a sensational campaign with Rayo last season. He helped the club reach the Europa Conference League final, where they were beaten by Crystal Palace. An eighth-place finish in the Spanish top flight secured their place in the competition again next season. Chavarria is thought to be keen on the move, with Alonso's former club Bayer Leverkusen also interested.
Other Chelsea Transfer Activity
Geovany Quenda, Dastan Satpaev, and Emmanuel Emegha are all set to join the Chelsea squad in the coming weeks in deals struck last year. Targeting players who can make an immediate impact in the first team, the Blues also launched a shock bid for Granit Xhaka last week, offering £8 million for the Sunderland midfielder. The offer was immediately rejected by the Black Cats, who deemed it disrespectful, insisting the former Arsenal captain is not for sale.
Premier League legend Alan Shearer commented on the Xhaka bid, saying: 'Sunderland bought Granit Xhaka for £17 million and he was one of the best players in the Premier League last season. He wasn't just one of the best players at Sunderland, but in the Premier League. And Chelsea think they can come in and offer less than half of what they bought him for and think that's acceptable? I mean, that's bizarre to me. I understand that he might want to go, but if he wants to go and clearly his agent has done some talking to Chelsea, then I mean it's a pretty embarrassing bid when a year earlier he cost £17 million and he's been one of the best players in the league.'
