Crystal Palace willing to spend big to beat Barcelona to Chelsea star

Crystal Palace are lining up a bid to sign midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka from Chelsea this summer, according to reports.

Chukwuemeka is a product of the Aston Villa youth system and made 16 senior appearances for the club between May 2021 and July 2022.

The midfielder then signed for Chelsea, where he’s played 27 times across all competitions during the past two seasons, scoring twice but never truly establishing himself as a first-team regular.

Still only 20 years old, Chukwuemeka is a player with considerable talent and has 25 caps to his name across various youth levels for England, who he helped win the 2022 U19 Euros — being named in the Team of the Tournament along the way.

In fact, with Chelsea looking to thin their squad after another busy summer of spending, Spanish giants Barcelona have been heavily linked with his signature — although Fabrizio Romano has cooled speculation slightly.

“There has been speculation about other potential Chelsea exits as well, with Carney Chukwuemeka linked with Barcelona,” Romano told CaughtOffside.

“Still, my understanding is that there is nothing concrete so far. Chelsea have not received any bid for Chukwuemeka and the situation is currently quiet. Then in the next days, we will see… but at the moment there has been no offer made to Chelsea from Barca.”

Crystal Palace lining up Chukwuemeka bid

According to The Sun (via The Chelsea Chronicle), Crystal Palace are also lining up a bid for Chukwuemeka.

The report states that the Eagles are ‘willing to spend big’ on the youngster, who is keen to leave Stamford Bridge in search of first-team football, with new manager Enzo Maresca seemingly preferring other options.

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