Chelsea preparing to take on Man City in transfer head to head

Chelea are set to rival Mancheseter City for the signature of Mehdi Benatia, and if the Daily Expressis to be believed, are prepared to include young Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku in any deal. The Roma defender has impressed in Serie A this season, but has so far refused to agree a new contract with the club. With 2 years left on his contract, Roma are ready to cash in before his value dips considerably as he enters the final year of his contract. This has alerted Manchester City and Chelsea to his availability, and it appears the latter is prepared to pay somewhere near Roma’s valuation of £38 million for the Moroccan defender, with £18 million cash and Romelu Lukaku valued at £20 million by Chelsea. Chelsea are on the verge of selling Brazilian defender David Luiz to PSG for a world record transfer fee for a defender worth more than £40 million, and it appears they are ready to rival that fee for a replacement more in the mould that boss Jose Mourinho would prefer. Despite rumours of Mourinho having doubts about Lukaku’s attitude, it is still surprising that the Blues would be willing to sell the top scoring players on their books for the last two season, even if his goals did not come in a Chelsea shirt.