Chelsea make approach to sign Barcelona star with £83m buyout clause

Chelsea have set their sights on signing Barcelona starlet Marc Casado and have contacted the midfielder’s camp over a possible move in the summer.

Casado joined Barcelona’s academy at the age of 13 and rose through the youth ranks to make his debut for the club in 2022, coming on as a substitute in a 4-2 win over Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League.

The 21-year-old has gone on to establish himself as a first-team regular under Hansi Flick this season, making 30 appearances in all competitions for his boyhood team.

But Casado’s future has been the subject of intense speculation in recent months and, according to Cadena SER, several English clubs asked about Casado’s situation when the Spaniard was available on a free transfer last summer.

Casado went on to put an end to the uncertainty by signing a new long-term contract with Barcelona, tying him to the La Liga giants until 2028.

The interest from the Premier League remains, though, with Chelsea said to have approached the youngster again in recent weeks after initiating contact and ‘knocking on his door’ some time ago.

However, the report claims Casado is not even considering the idea of leaving Barca at this stage and is ‘convinced’ he can ‘fulfil his dream’ to have a long and illustrious career with the Catalan giants.

Chelsea have not given up hope of luring Casado to Stamford Bridge and are expected to step up their pursuit again when the transfer window opens for business at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.

The Blues will be aware that Casado will not come cheap given the defensive midfielder has a €100million (£83m) release clause in his deal at the Camp Nou.

Casado’s most recent start came in Barcelona’s 1-0 victory over Alaves a fortnight ago but was ineffective in the first half and replaced at the break by Flick.

The Spain international will no doubt be desperate to return to Flick’s starting XI this weekend after being named on the bench for Barca’s last two matches against Sevilla and Valencia.

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Speaking ahead of Barca’s 5-0 thumping of Young Boys, Casado credited Flick with instilling in him the ‘confidence’ needed to perform at the top level.

‘The coach has helped me a lot to start playing games in the first-team and he gives me a lot of confidence to play,’ he explained.

‘He also tells me very clearly what I have to do so that I can get the best out of myself. I am very grateful to him.

It is clear that these are my first matches in La Liga and I am feeling comfortable. I think both the coach and my team-mates are helping me.

‘I am happy with everything and I hope it can continue like this,” Casado noted.

‘I think he has helped me a lot to be able to achieve my maximum performance and to understand many aspects of football so things can go even better.’

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Author Of article : Tom Olver

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