Cesc Fabregas to Chelsea: Jose Mourinho reportedly confident deal for Barcelona midfielder is done while Diego Costa announcement could come this week
Chelsea are ready to spend £60m on Fabregas and Costa with reports claiming the Blues are confident they can complete both deals before Spain begin their World Cup defence
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Your support makes all the difference.Jose Mourinho believes Chelsea have captured Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas as the replacement to departed club legend Frank Lampard, with reports claiming the transfer could be completed before Spain begin their World Cup campaign against Netherlands on Friday.
Fabregas looks set to leave to Nou Camp this summer after the Catalan side put him up for sale for £30m, with the player seeking a return to the Premier League after struggling to have the major impact he had hoped in La Liga.
According to the Daily Mail, Mourinho believes that the club have beaten Liverpool to the signing of Fabregas, and they could announce the deal sometime this week before the 27-year-old turns his full attentions to Spain’s World Cup defence in Brazil.
Any announcement could coincide with the capture of Fabregas’ international team-mate Diego Costa, who has already passed a medical with the Blues after they activated his £32m release clause. The Atletico Madrid star, who was a key reason in helping the Madrid-based outfit win their first La Liga crown since 1996, admitted on the weekend that it looks likely that he will be in the blue of Chelsea next season.
With the additions of Fabregas and Costa, who together will cost Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich around £60m, Mourinho is confident he will have the squad capable of not only challenging defending champions Manchester City for the Premier League, but beating them to a first league title since their 2009-190 success.
Chelsea’s biggest boost came when Arsenal pulled out of the race for Fabregas, with the fromer Gunners’ skipper believed to prefer a return to the Emirates where he spent eight years under the guidance of Arsene Wenger.
The Frenchman first signed Fabregas in 2004 as a fresh-faced 18-year-old, meaning that the creative midfielder qualifies as a homegrown player when it comes to registering a Champions League squad.
But Wenger feels he has more than enough options in midfield with the likes of Mesut Özil, Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere, and will instead seek to strengthen elsewhere with his main concerns in the striker and defender departments.
That leaves the door open for Chelsea to secure the signing of the World Cup winner, with Manchester City and Manchester United also looking at other targets despite early interest in him. With Liverpool reportedly leading the race for Fabregas early on, Mourinho appears to have worked his magic to land Fabregas and keep him out of the clutches of the Blues’ main rivals.
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