Chelsea already spending Juan Mata funds as they bid £11m for Mohamed Salah

 
Simon Johnson23 January 2014

Chelsea have already made a move to replace Juan Mata by making an £11million bid for Basle midfielder Mohamed Salah.

Mata was set to complete a £37million move to Manchester United today, which would break Chelsea’s transfer record for the highest fee received for a player.

Salah has been targeted by a number of clubs across Europe, including Tottenham and Liverpool, with the latter convinced they were going to win the race.

But Chelsea are using the funds from Mata’s move to Old Trafford to make an offer for the 21-year-old Egypt international, who impressed against them in the Europa League semi-final last season and in the Champions League group stages this term.

Salah has scored against Chelsea in his last three appearances against them, including the winner in November.

He has struck four times for Basle in 18 League appearances this season and he helped them win the Swiss championship last year.

Chelsea still have a lot of work to do to secure the deal, though, because Basle are hoping to get closer to £15m for his services but they have offered more than Liverpool so far.

Salah is also believed to be concerned about a potential lack of first-team football at Stamford Bridge and, before Chelsea’s interest, he was keen on a move to Anfield.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers had a meeting with the club’s principal owner John W Henry and chairman Tom Werner last Friday to discuss this transfer window and he was told to press on with his attempts to sign Salah.

Chelsea could also use funds from Mata’s sale to finalise a £10m switch for Saint Etienne defender Kurt Zouma, who revealed last week that manager Jose Mourinho had called him to talk about a deal.

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