CHELSEA will focus their attention on signing Jude Bellingham as they resign themselves to defeat in the race for Declan Rice, according to reports.
Arsenal are the frontrunners to sign West Ham star Rice despite his links to Chelsea.
Jude Bellingham will be Chelsea’s main target in the summerRex
GettyThis is Declan Rice appears destined to join Arsenal[/caption]
And owing to this Chelsea will instead throw their all into signing Borussia Dortmund star Bellingham.
Indeed, the Telegraph report the Blues owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali will “move heaven and earth” to try and sign the England midfielder.
The report details how the pair were in attendance for England’s clash against Iran at the World Cup, with Bellingham scoring the opening goal in that fixture.
And just over a week later, SunSport revealed how Boehly was “obsessed” about signing Bellingham.
However, there is also said to be a recognition of Chelsea not being frontrunners to sign Bellingham, with Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester City more likely occupiers of the crown.
The pursuit of Bellingham comes directly after a season which has seen a staggering outlay of £600million, including a British transfer record of £107m spent on Enzo Fernandez.
They will not be finished once they have Bellingham either.
The report adds Chelsea want to sign another midfielder, with Arsenal-linked duo Rice and Moises Caicedo on the radar.
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Despite the huge outlay on transfers, Graham Potters side have struggled to turn games into wins.
Consequently, they sit down in ninth in the Premier League.
This has left their hopes of retaining spot in the Champions League precarious at best.
Loanee Joao Felix issued a rallying cy for the squad ahead of the UCL last 16 tie against Borussia Dortmund, declaring the Blues MUST win the tournament.