Inter Milan send contract ultimatum to Chelsea target Milan Skriniar. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)
According to Foot Mercato (h/t Express), Chelsea have been given encouragement regarding their pursuit to sign defender Milan Skriniar. Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur are also linked with the player, who has worked with their manager Antonio Conte before in Inter.
Skriniar has been a target for both London clubs for some time now. French champions Paris Saint-Germain are also in the race. A dominant centre-back,, he is a proven customer at the top level.
The encouragement has come in the form that Inter chairman Steven Zheng still considers the defender a sellable asset for the club. The reason is their weak financial status and having to balance the books. However, no club thus far has come with an offer even close to the price tag of £59m for the Slovakian international.
Skriniar, who is also his nation’s football team captain, has been at Inter for five seasons, making a total of 172 league appearances and winning one Serie A league title in 2021. He is a quality defender, who mainly plays as a centre-back, but can also do a job at right-back or as a defensive midfielder.
Under Conte, and also under Simone Inzaghi, the 27-year-old has mostly played on the right-hand side of the three-man central defence. He can easily play in the centre of the three as well.
He is confident on the ball, can make progress with it, can make great passes to midfield and diagonal switches is physically strong in challenges and reads the danger well.
All in all, Skriniar epitomises what a modern-day elite centre-back plays like. Boldness and dominance are the two words that describe the Slovak very well. He would be an excellent fit at Stamford Bridge.
From Chelsea’s view, this encouragement can come as good news. It is well documented that they are in pursuit to sign Leicester City centre-back Wesley Fofana. Their first two offers, the latest being of £70m, have already been rejected by the Foxes. It looks the Blues would have to fork out a lot to get him.
Why not skip the pursuit of Fofana and get a more experienced, and frankly better player in Skriniar with lesser money spent? Sounds like a better plan.
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