Chelsea Transfer News: Latest on Yaya Toure and Gareth Bale Rumours

Chelsea are reportedly ready to launch a surprise summer pursuit of Manchester City’s midfielder Yaya Toure.

That’s according to John Richardson of the Sunday Express, who wrote that Jose Mourinho is a “big admirer” of the 32-year-old and Chelsea could potentially land Toure for a cut-price £10 million fee. It’s also claimed the Blues “won’t take no for an answer” in pursuit of the Ivory Coast star.

As noted here by Squawka Football, it’s not been the greatest season for the City man:

According to Richardson’s piece, City will have no problem letting Toure leave and will look to replenish their options with the fee recouped from his sale and the savings on wages. As quoted in the article, the player’s agent Dimitri Seluk has also admitted the midfielder is “90 per cent certain” to depart the Etihad Stadium this summer.

Bleacher Report’s City correspondent Rob Pollard discusses Toure’s potential sale here:

The link with Chelsea is an intriguing one. At his best, Toure would have been the perfect player for a Mourinho team, marrying power and purpose superbly. His ability to drive City forward has been a hallmark of their success down the years, but over the course of the current campaign, his age gradually seems to have caught up with the Ivory Coast powerhouse.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

As such, perhaps a move to Serie A—where the tempo of the game is much slower—would be better tailored to Toure’s current skill set. Internazionale are clearly interested too, as noted by Matteo Bonetti of Bleacher Report:

Chelsea’s squad doesn’t need too much in terms of refinements this summer. While Mourinho will surely go out and sign a couple of big names, there are some quality youngsters in the Blues setup who should be seeing plenty of minutes next season. It’d be a big shame if signing a player like Toure was to potentially block their route to the first team.

In addition, as direct title rivals, it would be a major surprise to see City sanction a sale to the Blues. All things considered, it’d be a huge shock if this deal came to fruition.

Roman Abramovich Wants Gareth Bale

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

According to Rob Shepherd of the MailOnline, Blues owner Roman Abramovich is desperate to land Real Madrid star Gareth Bale and will do his utmost to sign him, even if Mourinho isn’t too keen on the Welshman.

Shepherd continues:

"

Gareth Bale’s representatives will sound out Chelsea if they really want to battle with Manchester United to sign him this summer.

Despite the rhetoric Bale wants to stay at Madrid he is more than open for a move back to the Premier League. …

United are desperate to sign him but I understand that Blues owner Roman Abramovich wants to seal a Bale deal even if manager Jose Mourinho is not so concerned. If Chelsea land Bale, Brazilian Oscar will be sold, perhaps to Paris Saint-Germain, or even Real.

"

Clive Rose/Getty Images

It’s been tough going for Bale at Madrid recently. The Welshman has been on the end of some scathing criticism after a poor run of games, prompting reports like the one aforementioned that he could be on his way back to English football at the end of the season.

Former West Ham United winger Matthew Etherington thinks Bale should ponder a Premier League return:

For Chelsea, the prospect of the former Tottenham Hotspur man trailblazing his way up and down the Stamford Bridge pitch is a tantalising one. After all, even though Bale is under fire at the Santiago Bernabeu at the moment, he’s still a top quality player and someone who is proven in the Premier League.

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

Indeed, as noted by Bleacher Report’s Chelsea correspondent Garry Hayes earlier in the campaign, the acquisition of a player like Bale would make the Blues a formidable force:

Given how frustrated the Madridistas are becoming with Bale, you suspect that if the club were to be in receipt of a substantial offer—Jamie Sanderson of Metro claims Chelsea could stump up £81.4 million for the 25-year-old—they’d have to give it serious consideration.

Perhaps a move back to England would be best for the player, too. After all, Bale has scored two winning goals in two illustrious finals against Real’s two biggest rivals, yet he’s still not adored by the home crowd. By contrast, if he was to repeat those sorts of feats at Stamford Bridge, he’d be forever immortalised in Chelsea folklore.