Chelsea had £44M bid accepted for Nicolo Barella – here’s why it didn’t happen

[James 5,138]

Reports in Italy claim that Chelsea had a £44M bid accepted for Nicolo Barella in January, but the player turned down the move for personal reasons. Barella, alongside Zenit midfielder Leandro Parades, was touted as a key target for Chelsea this January following the departure of Cesc Fabregas to AS Monaco. In the end, Chelsea […]

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[Vesper 27,282]

From all that I have read, it looks really grim for us with him.

He was oki with a buy and a loan back until summer (so his wife could give birth in Sardinia). He gave multiple interviews saying he wanted to go to the EPL, and that he idolised Magic Box, and loved Chelsea. BUT, I think his family, his wife, and her family all ganged up on him and said to stay in Italy and move to Inter, Juve, or Napoli this summer.

I think we are well and truly fucked. I wager he goes to Inter (they really want to sell Nainggolan now, shame he is too old) or Napoli (who will lose Allan to PSG more than likely) and we also lose out on Tonali (to Juve or Inter).

I cannot blame the board on Barella. They really did try to buy him, I am 99% sure of this. A horrid loss for us, and double if we lose Tonali too.

Maybe Barella can change his families' minds, but Italians are stubborn as fuck, and he is really young.