Chelsea round-up: Swap deal for Diego Costa; Eden Hazard’s new offer revealed; Marco Verratti deal unlikely

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TuttoMercatoWeb claim that Chelsea could look to complete a sensational swap deal which would see striker Diego Costa head to Paris Saint-Germain if they are prepared to allow attacking midfielder Javier Pastore to move the other way. It would not represent a straight swap, though, given that the Argentinean has found the net just twice in 15 games this season.

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It would seem an odd deal given that the 27-year-old has frequently suffered from various injuries this season and has struggled to nail down a regular place in the starting eleven. That said, his ability to play on the left wing could mean that Antonio Conte is considering him as an option to add depth to the squad.

The club’s current first-choice left forward is Eden Hazard, and the Daily Mail say that bosses are prepared to make the Belgian their highest earner on a whopping £300,000 per week in order to convince him to remain in west London rather than move to Real Madrid if a bid is made in the summer.

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They say that the club believe that such a wage, accompanied by some big spending of their own to show that the side mean business in the Champions League, should be enough to guarantee that they can retain one of their key men as they look likely to be fighting to defend their Premier League title.

Part of that big spending could have included PSG midfielder Marco Verratti, according to Goal, with the Blues one of many sides to be monitoring the Italian, who Conte knows well from his days in charge of the 24-year-old with the national team. However, a deal could be scuppered as it would require the sale of Cesc Fabregas.

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The Spaniard barely figured in the first half of the season but his recent good form has put him back in the frame and the club are reluctant to cash in on him and allow him to leave, even if it could lead to the purchase of Verratti.

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