Xabi Alonso reportedly sought advice from Kylian Mbappe: Chelsea's transfer coup involving a former Bundesliga star collapses at the last minute
In view of the departure of World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez to Premier League rivals Manchester City for a transfer fee of €145 million, Chelsea were desperate to sign another player for central midfield before the transfer window closed – but that plan failed.
The London club pushed hard to sign France international Manu Kone (25) from Roma. According to transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio, talks between all parties had reached a very advanced stage. The fee under discussion was between €60 million and €70 million. In the end, though, the Giallorossi did not approve the deal because, according to Footmercato, they could not find a suitable replacement in the limited time available. They are said to have pursued Youssouf Fofana (27, AC Milan) and former Bundesliga player Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg (31, Olympique Marseille).
One concrete sign of Chelsea's efforts, according to the outlet, was head coach Xabi Alonso (44) trying to convince Kone over the phone to move to Stamford Bridge. The coach is also said to have asked his former Real protégé Kylian Mbappe about Kone. The superstar is said to have spoken "in the highest terms" about his team-mate in the France national side.
Alonso and Mbappe are not the only big names who rate Kone highly. France striking legend Thierry Henry praised him before the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico on SPORTbible as "one of the best central midfielders out there". Henry coached Kone almost two years ago as manager of the France Under-23 national team at the Olympic Games in Paris. The side featuring Kone and current Bayern Munich star Michael Olise won the silver medal then.
Since then, Kone has been "brilliant", Henry continued: "He might go a bit unnoticed because people talk about (Ousmane) Dembele, Desire Doue, (Bradley) Barcola, (William) Saliba or (Ibrahima) Konate. People do not have him on their radar by contrast. I think he is an extremely solid player."
Who do Chelsea want to sign instead of Manu Kone?
After the Olympics, Kone joined Roma from Gladbach for a fee of €18 million, where he has become a key player and recorded five goal involvements in 37 matches last season. He has now made 19 appearances for France's senior national team.
Even so, Chelsea still want to sign another central midfielder. Allegedly, the Club World Cup winners have approached former Liverpool player Georginio Wijnaldum (36) for this purpose. He has been without a club since leaving Saudi club Al-Ettifaq and could therefore still be signed even though the transfer window is closed.
