Chelsea join race to sign Liverpool and Bayern Munich target in January - Reports
Chelsea have reportedly joined the race to sign Konrad Laimer from RB Leipzig, who was on Liverpool and Bayern Munich's radar this summer.
According to BILD (h/t ChelseaTransferRoom), the Blues are keen to sign the Austria international who has less than 12 months left on his contract. He could leave as a free agent next summer if he doesn't renew his deal with Die Roten Bullen.
Liverpool and Bayern Munich were notably interested in signing the former RB Salzburg midfielder during the recently-concluded transfer window, as per Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly seems to have taken a liking to a number of Leipzig players in recent weeks. The Blues are said to be eager to close a deal for Christopher Nkunku and Josko Gvardiol this season.
They also conducted business with the Bundesliga outfit this summer when they sanctioned Timo Werner's return to Leipzig on a permanent basis. Laimer, 25, is in the prime years of his career and is a quality box-to-box midfielder.
Denis Zakaria is set to return to Juventus next summer after his loan spell ends, while N'Golo Kante and Jorginho are in the final year of their respective contracts. Hence, there could be space for Laimer in the west London outfit.
However, the Blues will have to be wary of Liverpool and Bayern. The former, in particular, could use a dependable player to add to their midfield.
Their midfield has been a topic of worry with aging and injury-prone players not allowing manager Jurgen Klopp to settle on his preferred starting XI this season. Arthur Melo's loan signing hasn't been of any help since he injured himself and has been sidelined for three to four months.
Ian Wright believes Liverpool will find it tough to sign Chelsea target
Chelsea are Liverpool are widely believed to be two contenders in the race to sign Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund in 2023.
However, Arsenal legend Ian Wright believes that a move to the Reds will be a hard sell for the 19-year-old, who also has interest from Manchester City and Real Madrid. He recently stated on The Kelly & Wrighty Show (h/t Metro):
"The problem for Liverpool is that Jude Bellingham has the pick of the greatest [teams] at the moment. How do you sell Liverpool to him?"
He added:
"How are you going to be able to entice him against Manchester City and Real Madrid who can both say “look at who we’ve got”. They both could dominate for the next 10 years."
The Blues signed Carney Chukwuemeka (18) and Cesare Casadei (19) this summer, both of a similar age profile to Bellingham.