Two mega transfers imminent! Manchester City and Chelsea close to record offensive ace signings

Manchester City and Chelsea are close to completing record transfers. Both English giants are about to complete the arrivals of big offensive stars. Jack Grealish is due to undergo a medical at the Etihad Stadium as early as Thursday, and negotiations between Chelsea and Inter over Romelu Lukaku are also nearing their final stages.

The Citizens as reigning English champions, the Blues as winners of last season’s Champions League. Such titles fit Chelsea and Manchester City clearly into the roles of big favourites for the Premier League title.

All the more so when both teams, after a successful season, are not lazy, do not hesitate to spend huge sums of money, and continue to expand their squad with mega-star signings. Or at least plan to.

If everything works out, they could collectively spend up to £200 million (£6 billion) in the coming days. Each will bring in a single newcomer. Although that may not be the right word.

Because at Chelsea, it won’t be a newcomer. Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku could return to the team after eight years. But he didn’t exactly make a splash during his previous stint there.

He only managed to do that at Everton and then Manchester United, from where he headed out of England two years ago – to Italy. But Inter Milan is small for him. He scored an incredible 64 goals in 95 games for the club and made a huge contribution to their relatively surprising triumph in Serie A.

On merit, the 28-year-old Belgian now wants to force a return to the British Isles and take on a new challenge:: dominating the Premier League. As a goalscorer and as a Chelsea player. He has therefore personally asked the Milan management to listen to the Blues’ offers.

But it has rejected two of them so far, the last one being worth £85 million, and as a bonus, Marcos Alonso was offered in exchange. But the Italian champion wants even more for his goalscorer, who absolutely conquered the entire Serie A last season. According to Sky Sports, Steven Zhang, the Inter boss, would be convinced by a sum of between £94m and £102m.

And Chelsea are apparently willing to agree to it. According to renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano, there is no doubt in the English club’s mind that Lukaku can be brought back to Stamford Bridge. Incidentally, it was Romano who also reported that Inter are considering bringing in a replacement in the form of Zapata from Atalanta, who would complete the imaginary circle with a patch named Tammy Abraham.

Grealish only needs a medical

As far as superpowers for Pep Guardiola are concerned, it is not (yet) Harry Kane, who is even boycotting Tottenham training sessions to force a transfer to Manchester City, but Aston Villa captain and biggest star Jack Grealish.

He will head to Birmingham for €117 million, a record sum from both sides. Aston Villa have so far made the most money from the departure of Christian Benteke to Liverpool, who at the same time went for “only” 46.5 million euros. And to illustrate the point, the second Stewart Downing left for twice the price.

It was Manchester City’s most expensive signing so far, Kevin de Bruyne, who went for 76 million euros. Admittedly, it’s not such a significant difference at first glance, but a conversion of 1 billion crowns will surely quickly disabuse you of your misconception.

And there’s a third party for whom Grealish’s transfer will be a record-breaker. The most ever paid in England for a French midfielder Paul Pogba was €105 million in 2016. Even that sum will probably now be surpassed, making the transfer of the 25-year-old the biggest in English football history.

What is missing to complete it? Apparently only a medical, which is due to take place on Thursday morning. The contracts between the two clubs were signed on Wednesday evening, as well as the five-year contract of the player himself with the Citizens.

By the way, Aston Villa are not lagging behind either. As soon as it became clear that it was going to lose its brightest star, it embarked on a massive strengthening drive and has already managed to get three absolutely superlative replacements.

The expected horrendous amount of money from the Citizens’ account is clearly reflected in the club’s policy. In fact, all three new arrivals rank in the top 4 most expensive reinforcements in Aston Villa’s history.

They are 23-year-old winger Leon Bailey from Leverkusen, 24-year-old Emiliano Buendía from Norwich and most recently the rather shocking transfer of 29-year-old striker Danny Ings from Southampton. What’s more, experienced full-back Ashley Young arrived for free from Inter Milan.

In short, Premier League fans have a lot to look forward to next season, starting next Friday!

Sky Sports, Fabrizio Romano, The Athletic