Though Arsenasl had first contacted Sami Khedira, Real Madrid midfielder and member of the World Cup winning Germany team, for a £20m deal, as per a report published by leading football website Goal.com, the move has stalled and it’s now Chelsea who are moving fast in the race to recruit the 27-year-old.
Chelsea are emerging as frontrunners as they step up plans to reinforce their midfield. The Londoners have made contact with Real Madrid about discussing a £20 million deal for Khedira, who has only a year remaining on his contract with the Spanish giants. Chelsea’s move comes as Arsenal’s pursuit of the Germany World Cup winner has stalled due to his salary demands. As revealed by Goal, Khedira is pushing for a basic £200,000-a-week plus top-up bonuses.
That would make him the highest paid player in Arsenal, where top earners are £130,000-a-week duo Ozil and Sanchez, but he would fit in with Chelsea wage structure for A-list players. Jose Mourinho had made Juventus star Paul Pogba his top target to partner Nemanja Matic in central midfield next season but the Italian club’s £60m asking price has put off the west Londoners. With new signing Cesc Fabregas pencilled in for the No.10 playmaker role, Chelsea have begun exploring Khedira as a back-up option to Pogba given his availability and reasonable transfer fee.
Real are willing to offload the 27-year-old for £20m because his contract expires in 12 months’ time, when he could leave on a free transfer. Real have failed to make any headway in agreeing a new deal with the German.