Chelsea will have to keep searching.
Paris Saint-Germain have agreed a €47 million deal with Zenit St Petersburg for the sale of Leandro Paredes, according to French newspaper L’Equipe.
Paredes will join the French champions on a four-and-a-half year deal, subject to a medical.
This comes just a day after FC Barcelona announced the signing of Dutch sensation Frenkie De Jong, who had also been on PSG’s radar. De Jong always preferred the move to Barça, and PSG have no turned their attention towards Paredes, who has spent the past 18 months at Zenit St Petersburg.
Chelsea were also keen on signing Paredes as a replacement for Cesc Fàbregas, who left Chelsea this January after four and a half years at Stamford Bridge.
But the Blues will now have to look further afield if they are to bring in another midfielder this month, which doesn’t seem necessary, given they have Mateo Kovačić and Danny Drinkwater in the squad, both of whom can deputise for Jorginho in the holding midfield role if called upon.
Paredes last reached the headlines during the Copa Libertadores fiasco, when arch rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate met in the two-legged final.
The second leg was a farce; cancelled twice and relocated to Madrid, but the first went ahead as planned – kind of. It was initially called off due to torrential rain, but went ahead the next day. Paredes was the subject of much scrutiny during that time after he was accused of intentionally being sent off in a Zenit game so he could make it back to Buenos Aires for the game.
Did he get sent off deliberately? We couldn’t say. Was he at the game, supporting Boca? Yes.
