Transfer news: Chelsea close to beating Arsenal in £30m race for 22-year-old Ligue 1 starlet

Chelsea close to beating Arsenal to sign Gabriel Magalhaes for £30m

According to a report by Daily Mail, Chelsea are inching close to signing Lille defender Gabriel Magalhaes for a fee in the region of £30m.

The Ligue 1 outfit are currently placed 4th in the standings and the 22-year-old Magalhaes has played a key role in all of their successes this term.

Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal were also interested in a move to sign him, as per Daily Mail, but it looks like we’ve managed to pip them and get ahead in the race to bag his signature.

We got a first-hand idea of Magalhaes’ potential when we faced him twice in the Champions League this season.

With £30m needed to get the deal over the line, the report claims that Chelsea are willing to pay the needed sum and have made progress as well.

Kurt Zouma and Antonio Rudiger have more or less been Frank Lampard’s preferred centre-back pairing this term but the manager has also experimented with Fikayo Tomori.

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We failed to find a replacement for David Luiz after he joined Arsenal, thus making Magalhaes a viable option indeed.