Chelsea leading the race to sign one of best performing World Cup players rated at £22m

Chelsea are leading the race to sign one of Russia’s best players in Aleksandr Golovin, according to Gianluca Di Marzio (h/t Metro). The Russian attacker helped the nation make it out of their World Cup group and now face Spain in the round of 16.

The report claims that Golovin has attracted interest from Arsenal and Juventus too. The Italian champions had even submitted a bid of £18million for the 22-year-old midfielder.

However, Golovin’s current club CSKA Moscow is looking at close to £22m and the Italian giants are not willing to spend that much for the Russian.

This has taken us to the front of the row in signing Golovin and the report also says that Maurizio Sarri has approved a move for the CSKA man.

Sarri is expected to take over from Antonio Conte and had, in fact, tried to sign Golovin a number of times during his tenure at Serie A club Napoli. Golovin has had a decent World Cup so far as he has scored one goal and provided a couple of assists for the hosts.

The 22-year-old can play in a number of positions in the attacking third of the pitch and Sarri could probably use him on the wing or even centrally as the Italian looks to kick-start another successful spell at Stamford Bridge.

Read more: Premier League trio wants to sign Chelsea starlet on loan for the 2018/19 season

For £22m, Golovin would not be a huge rise and could turn out to be a smart acquisition by the club. Sarri does need new faces in the Chelsea team next season and signing an in-form Golovin could well be the catalyst for a good season at the Bridge.