Chelsea Keen To Sign £20m-rated Forward From London Rivals – Transfer Update

Premier League side Chelsea, who have been in the hunt for a few big players in January, are set to make a bid for West Ham striker Enner Valencia at the end of the season. The Blue’s boss Jose Mourinho needed another quality addition to his attacking line after Didier Drogba and Loic Remy have not been so effective since joining Chelsea in the summer.

Valencia has been an option throughout the month of January for Mourinho, who chose to pursue his two primary targets first, Fiorentina’s Juan Cuadrado and Douglas Costa from Shakhtar Donetsk. The 25 year old Ecuadorian, has been outstanding  at West Ham this season and the Hammers have been a surprise package to say the least. Valencia had completed his move to the Premier League, following his £12million summer move from Mexican side Pachuca in 2014.

Although the striker is not as intense as Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll, yet, the versatile nature of his game has served  the Hammers boss Sam Allardyce well. He can play on either the left or right wing or also perform as a central striker, if needed for his side.

 Mourinho wants another performing striker as Didier Drogba’s role in the squad next season is not fixed yet and Valencia is also considered a more fitting replacement for Andre Schurrle, who departed for Wolfsburg on deadline day. Meanwhile, West Ham, themselves are already searching for a possible replacement for the striker, as they know they will struggle to keep hold of Valencia, should Chelsea decide to make a bid to draw him out.

The £20m-rated Chelsea target revealed Jose Mourinho’s interest is a ‘big compliment’.

“I found out about it from the social networks and from what my team-mates were saying.

“Nobody said anything definite to me. But if a team like Chelsea is interested in me, it’s a big compliment.

“It makes me want to keep on getting better.”

The Ecuadorian international has till now made a total of 20 appearances and has only managed to score thrice. Now, depending on the Portuguese manager’s intent on purchasing the striker, Valencia could be heading to Stamford Bridge in the upcoming summer transfer market.