Manchester United have made a take-it-or-leave-it offer of £30million for Cagliari midfielder and Chelsea target Nicolo Barella, according to reports in Italy. The 21-year-old, one of the highest rated young players in Serie A, has already earned four caps for the Italian national team and is attracting interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri had earmarked Barella as a potential replacement for Cesc Fabregas, but Correire dello Sport claim United have made a rival offer for the playmaker.
Barella has been watched extensively by United’s Italian football scout David Williams – who unearthed Giuseppe Rossi for the club 15 years ago – and he is a huge fan.
But while Cagliari are confident they can get as much as £45m for Barella, United made it clear they would not go beyond £30m for the midfielder.
The Serie A side were underwhelmed and have not taken United up on the offer, with Chelsea still in the driving seat to sign him. However, Blues chief Marina Granovskaia is equally reluctant to spend big on Barella and only values him at €35m (£31.4m), while the club have begun looking at alternatives including Leandro Paredes.
Chelsea have a major advantage over United in the race to sign Barella in the form of assistant boss Gianfranco Zola, who is a close friend of Cagliari president Tommaso Giulini. He visited Cobham earlier this season to hand his fellow Sardinian a commemorative Cagliari shirt – the club where he ended his playing career – and there is a feeling that a deal could be completed quickly if Chelsea do decide to offer closer to Barella’s £45m asking price.