Barcelona consider shock move for Chelsea star who has tempting £40m release clause

Barcelona are thought to be weighing up a shock move for a Chelsea star as Hansi Flick assembles his new-look squad ahead of next season.

It’s been a slow transfer window for Barcelona up until this point with the club being hampered by financial issues.

However, they have managed to land a deal for RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo and it’s now thought that the club will turn their attention to their next transfer targets.

While Hansi Flick’s side seem to be fairly well-stocked in midfield, they have recently been linked with a shock move for Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka.

According to reports in Spain, the 20-year-old midfielder has emerged as a shock target for Flick’s side this summer.

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Chukwuemeka arrived at Chelsea from Aston Villa in 2022 in a deal worth around £20m. While the midfielder has shown flashes of quality, his time at Stamford Bridge has been regularly interrupted by injuries.

Since his arrival two years ago, he’s only made 27 appearances for the club, with 23 of those games being in the Premier League.

The midfielder is under contract with Chelsea until 2028 and his deal does include a release clause of £40m.

Of course, Chelsea have already dealt with Barcelona during this summer transfer window as they signed striker Marc Guiu
from the Spanish giants earlier in the window.

Chelsea won’t sanction a loan deal

If Chelsea are to offload Chukwuemeka this summer, the club will only sanction a permanent move as they are not interested in sending him out on loan.

According to Fabrizio Romano, the club are happy to keep him around, although they could offload Chukwuemeka if an acceptable bid is made.

“Let me clarify that for Carney Chukwuemeka we have many rumours about many clubs, but what I can tell you is the message coming from Chelsea is very clear,” Romano said on his YouTube channel earlier this summer.

“You remember we had many messages on Levi Colwill joining Bayern. I always told you he is untouchable for Chelsea, not for sale. On Carney Chukwuemeka, the story is that Chelsea have no intention to let the player go on loan. This is the position of Chelsea.

“Then only permanent transfer in case they receive a good proposal. Otherwise, they are very happy to keep the player at the club, very satisfied with the player, his skills, his attitude, so Chelsea would be very happy to keep Carney.

“If they receive a very good proposal, the story could be different but has to be a permanent transfer.

“Chelsea at the moment are not keen on a loan move.”

Along with Barcelona, AC Milan have been sniffing around Chukwuemeka, although the Italian club was unsuccessful in their approach for the Chelsea star earlier this summer.

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