Chelsea put £26m asking price on wantaway full-back Emerson with Leicester's Chilwell set to complete move

Nizaar Kinsella

Chelsea put £26m asking price on wantaway full-back Emerson with Leicester's Chilwell set to complete move image

Chelsea want £26 million ($34m) for left-back Emerson Palmieri, who is surplus to requirements and interesting clubs such as Serie A giants Inter.

The 26-year-old is ready to leave Stamford Bridge having failed to convince Frank Lampard of his long-term worth, with Marcos Alonso set to battle impending new signing Ben Chilwell for a starting spot.

With Chilwell set to arrive this week in a £50m ($65m) deal from Leicester, the Blues are looking to raise funds and had instructed Emerson to begin looking for a move three weeks ago.

The west London club signed Emerson from Roma in January 2018 for £17.5m ($23m), with a further £8million ($10m) due in add-ons, and are looking to make a small profit.

There will likely be room for negotiation for clubs like Inter, who have registered an interest to drive down the fee to around £22m ($28m).

Along with Inter, where coach Antonio Conte's future is uncertain, other destinations are being explored, with Juventus and Napoli having registered an interest in the past.

The Blues have offered Thiago Silva and Malang Sarr deals to join their backline on free transfers after they left Ligue 1 sides Paris Saint-Germain and Nice, respectively.

This is on top of a club-record move for Bayer Leverkusen's Kai Havertz, which will likely end up costing £90m ($118m) when performance-related add-ons are taken into account.

That overall spend of £220m ($280m), along with a large squad, will lead club director Marina Granovskaia to attempt a round of player sales.

AC Milan technical director Paolo Maldini has publicly expressed an interest in Tiemoue Bakayoko who the club have previously had on loan.

The midfielder is keen to move, with Milan having made an offer to sign him on a temporary deal with an option to buy at £30m ($39m).

However, the Blues are keen to sell their failed £40m ($52m) signing from Monaco permanently with less than two years to run on his current contract. The counter-offer is to see him join with an obligation to buy at around £20m ($26m).

Michy Batshuayi is expected to leave, with Leeds United having been offered the striker who played under Marcelo Bielsa at Marseille. The signings of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech in attack for a combined £91m ($114m) signalled the end for Batshuayi at Chelsea, while he has also been left out of the Belgium squad.

Chelsea could also look to sell a centre-back and their goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga as player sales could fund a move for a new number one. However, no club has found a move for Kepa viable due to his high salary following his £72m ($95m) move from Athletic Club in 2018.

Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak and Ajax's Andre Onana are just two names on the goalkeeper shortlist for the ambitious Stamford Bridge club this summer.

Nizaar Kinsella

Nizaar Kinsella Photo

Nizaar Kinsella is a Chelsea correspondent with experience covering international football at the World Cup and European Championships. He is a trusted voice within the Chelsea community, attending almost every game and having spent many years doing so. Coverage on Goal.com has seen him invited onto CNN, BBC Radio 5 Live, TalkSport and BeINSports to comment on the turbulent world of the Stamford Bridge club. He previously worked for the Daily Mirror and BBC Radio Manchester, as well as a period working in the UK charity sector.