Chelsea agree fee for top target

According to the Guardian, Premier League champions Chelsea are close to securing a deal for their top target, Abdul Rahman Baba from German side FC Augsburg.

The Ghanaian international has been a target of the Blues for most of the summer and following the departure of Filipe Luis to Atletico Madrid the Blues are in need of a back-up to first-choice to Cesar Azpilicueta and this talented young man became their top target.

It now appears that Rahman is set to be that replacement for the Brazilian after Chelsea made a £17.5 million bid for him yesterday and the German club are expected to accept the offer for the 21-year-old.

Big price, big expectations

This is a large price for someone so young and with only two seasons of top-flight German football, but former Blues boss Avram Grant has tipped him for success and is believed to be the one who alerted Chelsea to his potential; Grant is currently coach of Ghana.

There will be expectations on him to deliver as and when he makes the move as this is a big fee for someone who is essentially going to be sitting on the bench for a large part of the season.

Massive profit

Chelsea have already had one bid turned down by Augsburg for him, at around £14 million, but following yesterday’s offer his agent told the Guardian ‘Both clubs are working on fine-tuning but we hope the agreement will be finalised soon’.

The German club signed him just a year ago from Greuther Furth for a fee of around £1 million, but he went on to be a star for them, making 31 appearances, keeping 9 clean sheets and being named the second best new left-back behind Juan Bernat.

This is a massive profit for the club should the deal go ahead, and will help Chelsea strengthen their side ahead of their Premier League opener against Swansea next weekend.