Chelsea Eye Philippe Coutinho Loan After Accepting Man Utd Are Frontrunners for Jadon Sancho

?Chelsea are considering an approach to sign Philippe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona after seemingly admitting defeat in their pursuit of Jadon Sancho – with Manchester United the frontrunners for his signature.

After failing to secure any of their forward targets in January – despite Frank Lampard’s incredibly open desire to do so – the upcoming summer window will see the Blues enter the market again in a bid to strengthen their forward line.


One of the players heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge is Sancho, whose outstanding form for Borussia Dortmund has left European heavyweights on high alert. ?

ESPN have concluded that despite interest from across the continent, it is now ?United who are leading the race to secure his prized signature. This information has been reported by 90min ?since September.

A deal worth upwards of £100m will be required to lure Dortmund into selling the Englishman, and while ?Chelsea have the necessary funding available to sanction such a fee, concerns remain about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Having recorded a £96.6m loss in their latest financial readings for the year ending 30 June 2019, it’s become clear that missing out on Champions League football for the 2018/19 season had an unwelcome effect.

Jadon Sancho

Further fears within the west London club centre around the effect that Covid-19 will have on the transfer market. The postponement of football and the potential of playing the rest of the season behind closed doors will have a significant effect on finances, therefore committing such a fee on one player has triggered a rethink.

It’s stated that while Chelsea have not completely ruled out a move for Sancho, they’ve widened their scope for attacking players as they believe Sancho is Old Trafford bound.

The aforementioned scope has shifted their gaze towards ?Barcelona outcast Coutinho. A loan move to Bayern had hoped to reignite the Brazilian’s career, but the Bundesliga side scoffed at Barça’s £97m buyout clause and Coutinho will return to Camp Nou when his deal ends.

Details of that loan move included an £8m loan fee with wages in excess of £200,000-a-week, figures that the Blues wouldn’t be opposed to paying. However, Barça would prefer a permanent departure for the 27-year-old as they are keen to overhaul their squad with the extra finances they could gain from a sale helping towards that.

Frank Lampard

Exactly what that fee may be is not known, but they may be willing to negotiate. One thing is for sure, it won’t be £145m.

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