Chelsea make offer to sign Edinson Cavani on loan transfer from PSG with striker desperate to leave
CHELSEA have offered to take Paris Saint-Germain’s striker Edinson Cavani to Stamford Bridge on loan until the end of the season.
According to The Times, Frank Lampard‘s side are prepared to pay a loan fee and cover the Uruguayan’s hefty wages, thought to be over £360,000 a week, until his PSG contract runs out at the end of June.
The fee to secure the wantaway striker’s services is likely to be at least £5million and the Blues will have to fork out an additional £7.2million for the player’s wages.
Boss Lampard has stepped up his interest in signing a striker after his side twice threw away the lead to draw 2-2 with Arsenal.
He said: “You can’t say we will definitely sign a striker but we are looking.
“If you don’t score enough goals then you won’t win enough games.”
CHELSEA NEWS LIVE: Follow for all the latest on the Blues
There are also concerns over regular lone striker Tammy Abraham who suffered an ankle injury late on at Stamford Bridge after sliding into the advertising hoardings and had to be helped from the field at the end of the game.
Lampard said he did not know how bad the injury was but that the club would assess the extent of the damage today.
With French World Cup winner Olivier Giroud set to leave this month, last season’s Europa League winners are now in desperate need of reinforcements up front.
Cavani handed in a transfer request at the French champions on Sunday in a bid to force a move in this window and Lampard praised the 32-year-old before his side took on Arsenal.
He added: “He is a great player, I played against him.
“I am not sure what the situation is there though.
“He has experience, sometimes it’s good to bring in experience.”
The Uruguayan has been limited to just nine league appearances for PSG this season despite being the club’s record goalscorer with 198 goals in 293 matches in his seven years in the French capital.
Cavani’s prolific record has seen Atletico Madrid and Manchester United also register interest in taking the player away from the Parc des Princes.
MOST READ IN FOOTBALL
Atletico were in talks with Cavani, who wanted an 18-month contract, and the Spanish club had an £8.5million bid rejected with PSG indicating they want to recoup up to £23million for the forward.
Amid all the transfer talk the former Napoli front man has been axed from the PSG squad for the third game running and will not play any part in the Coupe de la Ligue semi-final against Stade Reims tonight.
PSG forward Cavani’s last appearance was in the 3-3 draw with Monaco on January 12 and a groin strain is said to have kept him out the last two games with the club suggesting he is still “recovering”.