Chelsea Transfer News: Edinson Cavani Offer, Top Blues Rumours

Chelsea have submitted a huge offer for Paris Saint-Germain attacker Edinson Cavani, placing a £42 million bid on the table to tempt the Ligue 1 champions.

French outlet Le 10 Sport (h/t Colin Harvey of the Daily Star) reported the Blues "have made the first steps towards a deal" but are nowhere near PSG's valuation. The French capital city giants want to retain the Uruguay hitman after losing Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free to Manchester United, and the Stamford Bridge club will have to review their bid.

Unai Emery has just taken the PSG reins after Laurent Blanc's departure, and the club have placed a £66.7 million price tag on the versatile attacking talent, according to Le 10 Sport. Cavani is believed to be keen to leave Paris, and Chelsea are reviewing their attacking options after target Alvaro Morata pledged his future to Real Madrid.

Here is a video of Cavani in action:

Spain international Morata has returned to Los Blancos after two years with Juventus and has made it clear he wants a fair crack of the whip with the reigning UEFA Champions League winners.

"I have had two great years at Juventus, I learned a lot and I can only be thankful because without this experience I would not be here," Morata told Madrid’s official website (h/t Metro's Sean Kearns).

He continued: "It is incredible to be here again. It is a dream come true and I can’t wait to get started."

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

According to Kearns, Arsenal have also been monitoring the striker who performed well at Euro 2016, and Real currently value their asset at £65 million.

The 23-year-old featured 34 times for the Old Lady, per WhoScored.com, as they romped to the Serie A crown for the fourth year running, but Morata was confined to the bench for long spells of the campaign. 

BeIN Sports correspondent Tancredi Palmeri questioned Chelsea manager Antonio Conte's interest in Morata and the potential fee:

Ricardo Mazalan/Associated Press

Cavani has the pedigree Chelsea require, and it is questionable whether Morata has the depth of talent to lead the Blues line.

Conte needs a proven attacker to supplement Diego Costa, with a world-class reputation and depth of experience.

Michy Batshuayi will need time to settle at the Bridge, leaving Conte only a few weeks to find a top-class striker before the start of a new season in which Chelsea must hit the ground running after a difficult 12 months in the Premier League.

Failure is not an option for the Blues this term, and Conte will need to strengthen if Chelsea want to penetrate the top four.