Chelsea offer £52 million and Armando Broja as part of deal to sign defender Cristiano Ronaldo wanted at Manchester United: Reports

Chelsea are reportedly working on a deal to sign Antonio Silva from Benfica. The Blues are willing to offer £52 million and Armando Broja as part of deal to get the defender who Cristiano Ronaldo wanted at Manchester United.

As per a report in The Sun, Chelsea have now set sights on Silva after the 20-year-old's impressive performances for Benfica. Mauricio Pochettino's side are looking for a long-term replacement for Thiago Silva and see the Portuguese star as the ideal fit.

However, they will have to dig deep once again as Benfica have no plans to sell their star player. Manager Roger Schmidt recently spoke about the interest in his star defender, confirming that they will not let him leave in January. He said via AS:

"We will not let Antonio Silva leave. We are halfway through the season and we have big objectives with Benfica. He is happy at the club, so this is the end of the matter."

Chelsea are aware of the £87 million release clause in Silva's contract but are not looking to activate it. They are ready to offer £52 million and Broja in exchange for the youngster, who is also a target for Real Madrid and Manchester United.

Armando Broja has not been at his best at Chelsea since the ACL injury

Armando Broja has found it hard to get back to his best since making his return from an ACL injury. He was ruled out for the majority of 2023 after suffering the injury during a friendly against Aston Villa ahead of the restart of the season following the FIFA World Cup.

He spoke to the club website about his progress:

"The first few months were difficult. I didn't know how to grasp what was going on. I didn't realise there were so many stages of rehab that you have to go through to progress to the next step. I started not being able to walk and I was bed-bound for a while.

"And because I couldn't walk for ages, I had to learn how to walk again almost from scratch on my bad knee. I had to relearn the whole philosophy of walking which was crazy because I didn't expect the process to be like that."

Calling the experience a "massive learning curve," he added:

"The whole process was long, but it was a massive learning curve. It was a massive chance to engage with the group, my family, myself, learn about the game and watch every game from the outside. It was a big point in my life, something to deal with personally and mentally.

"It changed me mentally and how I think about dealing with things. It was a difficult period, but I'm so happy it's in the past. Now I want to push forward and keep on going."

Broja is also a target for West Ham United, who are looking to add a forward in January. Chelsea are yet to make a decision on the striker's future but are open to selling him to fund the move for Victor Osimhen.