Chelsea are reportedly hopeful of signing Aleksandr Golovin from CSKA Moscow in January.
Golovin, 21, has been capped 15 times by Russia and is expected to be one of the World Cup hosts’ star men in the summer.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is willing to spend around £15million on fellow Russian Golovin next month to avoid paying an inflated fee after he makes waves at Russia 2018, according to The Sun.
Despite the summer arrivals of Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater and Ethan Ampadu, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is not happy with his current squad and wants to bolster it by adding the CSKA Moscow midfielder.
The report states that Conte could opt to include the 21-year-old in his squad or choose to keep him in Russia for the rest of the season if Chelsea’s move is successful.
Despite his age, Golovin is not short of experience. He has amassed 15 caps for Russia already, and he’s made almost 100 club appearances for CSKA Moscow. The midfielder featured in all six of their Champions League group matches this season but failed to guide the Russian giants into the next round.
With talent and experience aplenty, Golovin could be groomed to take over from Cesc Fabregas later, as the Spanish midfielder has entered his 30s.
Conte has been complaining about signings this season after losing Nemanja Matic to Manchester United. The Italian was clearly upset with the board’s decision to sanction the midfielder’s sale against his wishes, to direct rivals, Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.
Tiemoue Bakayoko was signed from Monaco as Matic’s replacement but the bulky Frenchman has struggled to adapt to life at Stamford Bridge.
Bakayoko was heavily criticised by former Chelsea midfielder and legend Frank Lampard for ‘sleeping’ in games. Lampard believes that the player needs to improve after his error cost Antonio Conte’s side in their Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid.
However, as far as Golovin is concerned, the 21-year-old versatile midfielder will certainly improve our squad. He is far from a finished article yet, but his influence is obvious. The Russian feels at ease in every position in midfield, be it as a playmaker, a box-to-box midfielder, a winger or as a holding player. He lacked defensive discipline in the past, but now his tackling and overall game has improved by leaps and bounds.
With Arsenal tracking Golovin as well, Conte should try to sign the midfielder as quickly as possible.
