London – Chelsea will step up their pursuit of Wayne Rooney and Robert Lewandowski after Paris Saint-Germain tabled a £43million bid for Napoli striker Edinson Cavani on Tuesday.
Roman Abramovich does not want to be dragged into a bidding war for top target Cavani even though the French champions, bankrolled by Qatari billions, are still £11m short of triggering the Uruguayan’s release clause. Abramovich smashed the British transfer record when he paid Liverpool £50m for Fernando Torres in January 2011 and, although he is determined to support Jose Mourinho in the transfer market he is wary of another massive investment in a 26-year-old.
Torres was also 26 when he arrived and his market value has dropped rapidly since his form suffered after the move. Wages are not an issue: Chelsea can offer Cavani the £250,000 a week he demands but the likes of Rooney and Lewandowski would be available for smaller fees even if they each come with their own complications.
In Rooney’s case, Manchester United will not want to strengthen a rival in the title race, while Lewandowski clearly wants to quit Borussia Dortmund to join Bayern Munich. Manchester City, whose striker Edin Dzeko could be a Chelsea target, have long been interested in Cavani but now know they will have to outbid PSG to land him. Real Madrid is thought to be Cavani’s preferred destination if he is to leave Napoli, with the Spanish club also chasing his Uruguayan teammate Luis Suarez.
Rooney is due to speak to new United manager David Moyes about his future before the squad leave on a pre-season tour of Asia and Australia next week but former United assistant manager Mike Phelan has admitted that the England striker could leave for a new challenge. Rooney remains open-minded about his future, despite telling Sir Alex Ferguson last May that he thought a change of club may be beneficial.
Last night Phelan said: “Wayne is at the greatest club you can be at. Why would you want to jeopardise that, unless you want a fresh challenge and you feel that challenge isn’t being met at Manchester United? Somewhere down the line there will be words said, there will be meetings and they will see if it’s still alive and worth going for, or they’ll call time on it.
“Sometimes you have to crack the whip with him. Wayne has responded as well as he feels he can do and what will be will be.”
While Moyes is still settling in at United, Petr Cech hopes Mourinho will finally put a stop to the revolving door of Chelsea bosses by staying for the long term.The goalkeeper has seen eight managers in nine years at the club and would welcome the stability promised by the Portuguese as well as an improvement on one Premier League title in seven seasons.
Cech, speaking in Prague during a coaching session at his football academy for young children, thinks Chelsea can improve with Mourinho at the helm again. “We had such a successful time,” said the 31-year-old. “I hope that we can reproduce that now and push forward. We’ve got a manager who’s won it all in a variety of clubs. We have a good potential to challenge everyone.”
Mourinho is in the market for an English goalkeeper to keep Cech on his toes and a £5m bid for Norwich’s John Ruddy was turned down last week but an improved offer is expected. Additional reporting: Ian Ladyman & Laurie Whitwell – Daily Mail