What’s the story?
According to Daily Star, Chelsea are ready to meet the asking price for Real Madrid defender Danilo. The right-back has struggled to find a place in starting XI since moving to Spain in 2015.
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Seria A champions Juventus are also keeping tabs on the right-back and will compete with Chelsea for the Brazilian’s services. The right-back was linked with Liverpool and Arsenal earlier this year as well but stayed at Madrid.
Also read: Reports: Chelsea to make record €114 million bid for Premier League superstar
Danilo played only 20 games last season and is behind Carvajal in the favoured starting 11. Reports suggest that Real Madrid would sell the player for around £30m.
The heart of the matter
Since joining Real Madrid from Porto in 2015, Danilo has played only 41 games. He has a contract with the Spain giants till 2021, but it is highly unlikely that he would remain with them that long. Also, with the World Cup next year, the Brazilian defender would want more game time to secure a place in the squad.
With Dani Alves leaving, Juventus are now on a hunt for a new right-back.
Meanwhile, Conte wants to improve his defence as Chelsea would be competing in the Champions League and the Italian manager is also concerned that Sandro would sign a new deal with Juventus. There are reports that Juventus have offered Sandro a five-year deal worth £76,000-a-week. Sandro and Danilo have both played at Porto and Conte wants both of them as a part of his summer revamp.
What's next?
With the player eager to move, Chelsea and Juve would have to battle it out for the signature of the right-back. Real Madrid would have no problem selling him as they believe Nacho could be a good back up for Carvajal. Danilo is far from deciding where he would like to move and has the whole summer to decide his future. It remains to be seen which club would submit a higher bid.
Author's take
With both the clubs looking to improve their defence, it would be interesting to see whether they have an alternative option should one of them lose out on Danilo. Chelsea were after Dani Alves in the beginning, but it now looks like the player will join Manchester City on a two-year deal. Ideally, Danilo could move to either of the clubs as he would be guaranteed more playing time than he received at Real Madrid. It is up to the player to decide which club would be perfect for him.
