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, he is a player Alonso has personally targeted as part of his summer rebuild at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea made an initial bid of €9 million (£7.75m) plus add-ons, but Rayo Vallecano turned down the offer.
Chavarria's impressive season
Although Chavarria has not been capped at any level for Spain, he 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 La Liga secured their spot in the competition again next season. Chavarria is reportedly 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 that were struck last year. Targeting players who can make an immediate impact, 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 and insisted the former Arsenal captain is not for sale.
Shearer criticises Xhaka bid
Premier League legend Alan Shearer criticised Chelsea's approach for Xhaka. 'Sunderland bought Granit Xhaka for £17m and he was one of the best players in this Premier League last season,' Shearer told Betfair. '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.' Shearer added that while Xhaka might want to move, the bid was 'pretty embarrassing' given his recent form and transfer fee.
