According to London Evening Standard, Chelsea are planning a summer swoop for Atletico Madrid defender Jose Gimenez; whilst Estadio Deportivo report that Fiorentina, Roma and Sevilla are targeting Tottenham Hotspur’s Federico Fazio.
The 21-year-old is rapidly emerging as one of the hottest defensive prospects in world football, having already registered 31 caps for Uruguay and featured 16 times in an Atletico backline that has conceded just eight times in La Liga so far this season.
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According to LES, Chelsea actually targeted the 6 foot 1 centre-back ahead of Everton star John Stones last summer and are now expected to revive their interest at the end of the season. That, along with their interest in team-mates Koke and Antoine Griezmann, is one of the reasons Vincente Calderon boss Diego Simeone remains Chelsea’s priority management target.
Meanwhile, according to reports from Estadio Deportivo – summarised in English by Shoot – Roma, Fiorentina and Sevilla are racing to sign Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Federico Fazio before the transfer window slams shut on Monday.
The £8million signing is surplus to requirements at White Hart Lane, having made just one appearance for Spurs this season during a 2-1 Capital One Cup defeat to Arsenal. The 6 foot 5 defender previously captained Sevilla to a Europa League title during an eight-year spell at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, but the Spanish publication claim he’s leaning towards a Roma move instead.
Levy and Poch are smart. Clear out all the deadwood (Townsend and Fazio in particular) during the January transfer window, so Poch can start the close season fresh with only incoming targets (including possibly Moussa Dembele) to worry about and a definitive budget to work with..