Chelsea Dealt Huge Transfer Blow As £70m Target Is Set For His Medical At Real Madrid

English champions Chelsea look set to miss out on the transfer of Mauro Icardi, with reports in Spain suggesting the Inter Milan striker’s move to Real Madrid is all but sealed.

Madrid have been tipped to bring in a forward in January following the failure to replace Alvaro Morata. The Los Blancos seem to have identified Icardi as their target and the Argentina international will undergo a medical with Real on December 26, according to Diario Gol.

Zinedine Zidane’s men have not turned on their gear this season, with strikers Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo looking far from their best, and Gareth Bale struggling with injuries and form. So it comes as no surprise to see Real go for Icardi to solve their goal-scoring woes. It is claimed the deal could cost Real around £70million.

This news might come as a shock for Antonio Conte, who had reportedly identified the Inter Milan skipper as the perfect striker to partner his summer-signing Alvaro Morata.

Conte has been tasked with retaining the Premier League title, a mission which is looking like a distant dream now, with Manchester City blowing teams away week in and week out.

Icardi is a sublime talent and is currently enjoying one of the best seasons of his career, scoring 17 goals in 17 games in all competitions this season. With reports claiming Madrid are set to sign the Argentine, Chelsea will find it difficult to battle it out with the European champions in January. However, Inter would be unwilling to let their hit-man leave midway through the season.

This is bad news for Chelsea. Though Morata has done really well this season, Conte is not particularly happy with backup Michy Batshuayi, who, despite scoring important goals, has continued to be overlooked.

With the Italian manager tweaking his title-winning 3-4-3 tactics to a 3-4-1-2 formation, he is in need of a proper forward despite Eden Hazard excelling as a second striker. Hazard has been phenomenal since returning from injury but we need a clinical striker to partner Morata up front.

With the busy festive period about to start, Conte will hope to get a couple of signings in January to ease the pressure off from his first-team players. Also, if we really want to challenge City and United, we need two quality signings in January.