Chelsea are growing in confidence that they will be able to sign Miralem Pjanic from Roma this summer.
The Serie A club fear the £30million-rated Bosnia international has already decided he wants to leave and will not sign an extension to his current contract, which expires in 2018.
The 26-year-old attacking midfielder is currently earning £50,000 a week, but Chelsea are prepared to offer him a three-year contract of more than £65,000 a week to bring him to Stamford Bridge.
Pjanic boasts the most assists in Serie A with 10 and has also scored an impressive 12 times in all competitions. It is believed he is interested in moving to Chelsea, who will have current Italy coach Antonio Conte in charge next season.
Pjanic has been a key player for Roma since joining from French club Lyon for £8m in 2011 and is also attracting interest from Real Madrid. Should Chelsea succeed in signing him, it will raise doubts over the future of Oscar, who is wanted by Juventus.
Roma are also trying to fight off Chelsea’s interest in midfielder Radja Nainggolan and defender Kostas Manolas. As Standard Sport revealed last week, Nainggolan has been speaking to friends about the possibility of moving to Chelsea. However, Roma have tried to scare off Chelsea by valuing him at £40m, even though he turns 28 next month.
Reports in Italy also claim that Conte met the agent of 24-year-old Greece international Manolas in London yesterday. Conte has been in the capital since Sunday to sign his three-year contract and discuss transfer targets.
He has been promised millions to spend in the summer to turn around the team’s fortunes. Chelsea want to get their transfer business done early, having privately admitted that they got their plans wrong last year.
