Chelsea Transfer News: Riechedly Bazoer Battle with Pep Guardiola, Fresh Rumours

Chelsea will reportedly have to battle with Manchester City in their attempts to sign Ajax's Riechedly Bazoer as incoming Sky Blues boss Pep Guardiola wants to "hijack" the west London club's move for the Dutch youngster.

According to Darren Lewis in the Mirror, Chelsea are in "advanced talks" to sign Bazoer, 19, for £24 million, but Guardiola would like to see him at the Eithad. 

Lewis reported that Chelsea have already met with Bazoer's agent and current interim Blues manager, Guus Hiddink, has a good relationship with the player from his time at PSV Eindhoven.

Thus Chelsea look in a good position to sign him up this summer, but the lure of Guardiola could be enough to tempt the central midfielder to City.

It is no surprise that huge clubs like City and Chelsea are fighting over Bazoer, the Dutchman is a huge talent, per Dutch football writer Elko Born:

Despite still being a teenager, he has become a key part of Frank de Boer's Ajax team, starting 20 of their 24 Eredivisie matches this season, scoring four times and providing three assists, per WhoScored.com.

Born, writing for Squawka, previously described him as "the ultimate modern central midfielder" because he is equally comfortable scrapping for the ball in a defensive capacity as he is bombing forward in attack.

Bazoer has shown a maturity that belies his age this season, and he has even been compared to the legendary Frank Rijkaard, per Lewis.

A quick look at his statistics from Ajax's most recent league outing against Excelsior shows just how influential he can be, per Opta:

See below for some of his most eye-catching moments:

While Bazoer can also operate out wide, his natural position is in the engine room, dictating play from the middle of the park.

Given Nemanja Matic's struggles for form this season and the lack of depth Chelsea have in the centre of midfield—especially after Ramires' departure—Bazoer could be a very useful long-term addition to the Blues squad.

However, City could also do with some fresh blood in midfield, especially as Yaya Toure could be shipped off by Guardiola this summer, per Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe:

The battle for Bazoer's signature looks set to be fierce and Chelsea must hope they have done enough already to snap him up.

Elsewhere, Chelsea have reportedly been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba as Real Madrid have claimed an advantage in the race to sign the superstar Frenchman.

According to Spanish outlet EcoDiario (h/t Fichajes.net and the Daily Express' James Gray), Real are prepared to not activate their buy-back clause on Juve striker Alvaro Morata if it means "the Italian club are willing to talk about Pogba's move to Spain."

The report added that Chelsea were working on a £70 million deal for Pogba, 22, but Los Blancos look to have secured an edge over the Premier League side.