Chelsea will step up their pursuit of the AS Roma pair Edin Dzeko and Emerson Palmieri today in the hope of persuading the Serie A club to sell the two players for a combined €50 million (£44m). Initial talks were held between the two clubs last week and will resume today following the Italian side’s game with Internazionale last night. Chelsea are reluctant to agree to a potential £57.2m (€64 million) outlay but are confident that a deal can be reached. The Italian champions, Juventus, are also interested in signing the 23-year-old Brazilian left-back. Chelsea have offered Michy Batshuayi on loan as part of the deal but Roma are exploring other possibilities to replace Dzeko should he leave in this window.

Source: The Irish Times January 21, 2018 22:52 UTC