Chelsea are expected to sign Fenerbahce centre-back Attila Szalai for around €23.5m (£20m) when the January transfer window opens, according to reports in Turkey.
Those claims have been backed up Hungary manager Marco Rossi who says the defender is on the verge of completing his move to Stamford Bridge:
“I think he is joining Chelsea. Clearly, he has been followed by important clubs in Spain, but apparently his move to Chelsea is a done deal. He would be a great player also for Italian football.”
Fans on Twitter don’t know much about Szalai and some are wondering what that means for the Blues’ pursuit of long-term target Jules Kounde:
Kounde off then?
— ARMY (@CFCARMY12) December 6, 2021
the hungarian malang sarr
— Spunk Robinson (@SpunkRobinson) December 6, 2021
You never know my guy he could be the next best thing
— Pope (@CFCpope) December 6, 2021
How good is he? Haven’t watched him play
— king of the west (@Yemi_News247) December 6, 2021
Kounde clear
— Luke ⭐️⭐️ (@RollsReecey) December 6, 2021
Awful league.he is not ready for chelsea level
— 𝚂𝚆𝟹 𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙴𝙾 (@Sw3Romeo) December 6, 2021
I don’t want this guy
— Lux 💙🏆 (@CFCLux_) December 6, 2021
Who in the world is this
— Mahad MHB (@mahadmhb) December 6, 2021
Our scouting team needs to be replaced.
— Viraj Mandhare (@CFCMandhare) December 6, 2021
Not a huge fan of this ,he is young and from unproven league 😌
— Bollingoali2.0 ⭐️⭐️ (@Lukwhoisback) December 6, 2021
We shall have to wait and see whether the reports about Szalai are true. The Turkish media is notoriously unreliable, while Rossi may simply be making assumptions based on those stories.
You would think he would have some inside information about the transfer, considering he would have spoken to the player in the last international break, but his comments suggest he isn’t completely in the loop.
Szalai is 23 years of age, and has never played in a top European league, having played in Austria, Hungary, Cyprus, and Turkey.
