Chelsea line up £55m bid for Gedson Fernandes

Chelsea have made Benfica an offer for starlet Gedson Fernandes with the Blues offering the midfielder an 18-month loan deal with an obligation to buy for £55 million. The Portuguese midfielder has been heavily linked with a move to England in January with West Ham and Everton in the race.

The Hammers lead the race for the 20-year-old midfielder and are confident that they will get the deal through but Sky Sports have reported that Chelsea might cause problems. The Blues were interested in a move for the starlet and have now made an offer for Fernandes which is a loan deal with an obligation to buy at the end of the 18-month spell.

However, Sky Sports has further reported that the obligation is dependent on Fernandes playing atleast 50% of his games during his loan spell. West Ham have submitted a similar offer for the 20-year-old but their percentage of games that would trigger the permanent move is a lot less than Chelsea’s and the final decision rests on Fernandes’s shoulders himself.

There are other suitors for Fernandes but Sky Sports and other sources have reported that the Portuguese starlet prefers a move to England for family reasons. The midfielder does have a £102 million release clause to his name but Benfica have already accepted that they will not get close to that figure. Furthermore, with the club having signed Julian Weigl, they are looking to offload Fernandes with the 20-year-old out of favour after his fall out with coach Bruno Lage.