Chelsea Transfer News: Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba Hopes Boosted, Latest Rumours

A timely injection of £40 million in keeping with Financial Fair Play regulations looks set to boost Chelsea’s summer transfer budget, potentially paving the way for a pursuit of Paul Pogba or even Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

According to Matt Law of The Telegraph, the club’s new £200 million shirt sponsorship deal with Yokohama and the sale of Fernando Torres have freed up a surfeit of funds, which will allow Jose Mourinho to chase some of the world’s top talent at the climax of this campaign.

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Law elaborates on the minutiae of the potential windfall:

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While £40m may not seem like a huge figure in comparison to what clubs pay on transfer fees, it is extremely significant in terms of FFP costs.

Mourinho could comfortably afford to buy Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba under Uefa regulations, while an extra £40m in FFP leeway would account for just over 75 per cent of the freedom a club would need to sign Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

Torres has hit Chelsea for just over £18m-a-year in FFP costs and this summer is the first in which the Blues can budget for not having the Spaniard on the books.

The permanent move to AC Milan that allowed Torres to join Atletico Madrid on loan saw Chelsea accept an £18.72m Financial Fair Play hit on the striker this season in order for him to be wiped off next season’s books.

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This season has been a bittersweet one for the Stamford Bridge club. Barring an unprecedented collapse they will win the Premier League title at a canter, but desperately poor performances against Bradford City and Paris Saint-Germain saw the Blues eliminated early from the FA Cup and Champions League respectively.

However, Bleacher Report’s Chelsea correspondent Garry Hayes doesn’t think the Blues need a summer of lavish spending to become competitive on various fronts:

Nonetheless, it’d be no surprise to see Mourinho spend big at the end of the season and the prospect of Lionel Messi donning Chelsea blue is a tantalising, if not far-fetched proposition. As we can see here courtesy of WhoScored.com, Messi has proven recently that he is capable of shining against English opposition, too:

But even if Chelsea have the money to launch a bid for his services, it seems unlikely that the genial Argentine would push for a move to Stamford Bridge. He seems settled in Barcelona at this juncture, is playing arguably the finest football of his career to date and remains insatiable in his desire to fire the Catalan giants to further glories.

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Pogba represents an equally intriguing and certainly more realistic proposition. Here’s a look at what the Frenchman could potentially add to the Chelsea cause:

The 22-year-old is having a superb campaign at the heart of the Juventus midfield, adding a sprinkling of important goals to his game to complement his multifaceted array of desirable attributes. Potentially, Pogba and Nemanja Matic could form a robust, athletic and unyieldingly energetic foundation to the Chelsea midfield.

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As noted here, by Squawka Football, Pogba is equally adept at coming forward and scoring sensational strikes too:

Chelsea look as though they’ll face major competition if they’re to land Pogba, though. As noted by reports in Spain (h/t Matt Morlidge of MailOnline) Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and Manchester United are also apparently keen on the Bianconeri star, meaning that Chelsea will have to distinguish themselves from that elite clutch of clubs to lure him to the Bridge.

As is evident, the Blues certainly have the requisite financial clout to put a lucrative deal under the player’s nose, but it’s questionable whether or not they command comparable gravitas to the two Spanish giants or even the Ligue 1 champions, especially for a young French player.

But if he is available, you suspect Mourinho will do his utmost to put that right.