Fed up with trying to negotiate with Fiorentina for Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado after the Italians refuse to budge on their asking price of £26.8 despite Chelsea making an offer of £20.6 and willing to make up the difference in bonuses the Blues are now looking at Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Douglas Costa.
Chelsea has been tracking Costa since he was a teenager and were impressed with the 24-year-old’s partnership with now Chelsea player Willian while he played in the Ukraine.
Shakhtar has a reputation of being extremely difficult to negotiate with and given the current situation in the Ukraine with the players forced to play their home matches 600 miles away in Lviv reaching any agreement will be complicated.
Costa in now regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe and being able to link up with his former teammate will add another weapon to Jose Mourinho’s team as they compete for four trophies.
