Chelsea transfer ‘almost ready’ and stance on ‘short-term’ Cristiano Ronaldo deal is revealed

Lewis Oldham 15 Dec 2022 10:57 AM

Chelsea are reportedly ‘not in the race’ to sign Cristiano Ronaldo on a free transfer following his exit from Manchester United last month.

Ronaldo is searching for a new club and he is said to be using Real Madrid’s facilities to train to keep himself ticking over.

The 37-year-old would have left Man Utd in the summer had he got his own way but the club were unwilling to let him go.

At the time, Chelsea were linked with him as new co-owner Todd Boehly was keen to make the deal happen.

But Thomas Tuchel was not so open to this and this is one of the reasons why the German coach ended up leaving the Premier League club earlier this season.

Chelsea instead signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but they are short of options up front with Armando Broja suffering a serious knee injury.

Broja’s injury has fuelled talk that Chelsea could look to bring in Ronaldo as a ‘short-term’ solution.

But Fabrizio Romano is reporting that ‘no negotiations are ongoing’ between Chelsea and Ronaldo.

The transfer guru does have some good news for Chelsea, though. He has revealed that their deal to sign Christopher Nkunku is ‘almost ready’.

‘Chelsea’s deal for Christopher Nkunku is almost ready, but for the summer, so let’s see what names they look at this January, it will take some time for them to work out their options,’ Romano wrote for Caught Offside.

‘I can confirm again that Chelsea are not currently in the race for Cristiano Ronaldo, there are no negotiations ongoing, even though Todd Boehly was interested in the summer, before Thomas Tuchel blocked the deal.’

Chelsea are hoping to sign two players from RB Leipzig in the coming months. Along with Nkunku, they are interested in Josko Gvardiol.

The centre-back has been one of the standout players at the World Cup but he succumbed to Lionel Messi’s brilliance in the semi-finals earlier this week.

It has been claimed that Gvardiol could cost as much as €95m with Man Utd set to battle Chelsea for his services.

Though Gianluca Di Marzio is reporting that Chelsea “have the best possibility” to sign Gvardiol in January.

“I know that Chelsea and Real Madrid are the two clubs that are showing the most interest at this moment,” Di Marzio told soccernews.nl.

“They already made offers. His price is going to be higher after this World Cup and probably Chelsea has the best possibility to do this deal in January, whereas Madrid prefers to do it during the summer.

“I know that the most important clubs in Europe are fighting for Gvardiol.”

Di Marzio added: “For his career, I think Madrid could be perfect. Not only because it’s Real Madrid, but because Carlos Ancelotti is there and he is the right coach to improve him.”

“His defensive skills are perfect for him and having an Italian coach during this part of his career could be the right step for him.”

Chelsea Christopher Nkunku