As speculation of a London move for AS Roma star Medhi Benatia continues to mount, club officials are believed to have landed in England’s capitol to do the business of sealing a deal and landing a replacement in the process, according to reports that have emerged in Italian press this morning.
Morocco international defender Benatia has been strongly linked with Chelsea along with Manchester United and German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, and as the summer transfer window edges nearer to a close, it is reaching crunch time for the 27-year-old.
According to Italian reporter Gianluca Di Marzio, officials from Benatia’s club, Italian Serie A giants Roma, have headed to London to attend to some business and as well as their mission of acquiring their desired sum of £32m for Benatia (which only a big-money club like Chelsea can afford to pay), they have identified a possible replacement at rival London club Tottenham, in the form of Romanian defender Vlad Chiriches.
Chiriches, who is 24, was left out of the line-up for his club on their debut Premier League fixture away to West Ham on 16 August and is expected to bid farewell to White Hart Lane before the door is shut on the summer transfer season in 10 day’s time.