Chelsea may repeat Liverpool trick as Tottenham in Brennan Johnson transfer standoff | Football | Sport

Chelsea could attempt yet another hijacking as Tottenham find themselves in a stand-off with Nottingham Forest over the transfer fee for Brennan Johnson. Spurs are trying to lower the club’s £40million valuation of their forward, however, their Premier League rivals aren’t willing to budge.

The Blues maintain a keen interest in Johnson and according to the Independent are weighing up whether to make an offer for him while his proposed move to north London stalls. Mauricio Pochettino is hoping to bring in an out-and-out forward to bolster his front three but there aren’t an abundance of options and so Johnson, who mainly plays as an attacking midfielder but can also operate as a No 9 and winger, finds himself towards the top of the pile.

Chelsea have made a habit of snatching their rival’s transfer targets from under their noses in the last minute ever since Todd Boehly and co took over the club last year. There was Mykhailo Mudryk from Arsenal in January and more recently Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia from Liverpool earlier this month.

With Tottenham struggling to strike up a deal with Nottingham Forest it would come as no surprise for the west Londoners to muscle their way into an agreement with Johnson if they deemed it necessary. Johnson is said to be keen on a move to Tottenham but would also likely entertain a switch to Chelsea.

When asked about the speculation surrounding Brennan Johnson’s future, Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper said: “I’m not sure, I don’t deal with that. I deal with him day to day, and we’re talking every day but it’s normal conversations about performance and that’s what we do. I don’t pay attention to the speculation, and we love working with him.”

Chelsea had identified Dusan Vlahovic and Elye Wahi as solid options to add depth down the middle but Vlahovic opted to stay at Juventus while Wahi signed for Lens from Montpellier instead. 

Pochettino recently admitted that despite the acquisition of Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal and Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig, the Blues are still on the lookout for another striker. He told talkSPORT: “It is a difficult situation because we had two strikers in Nkunku and Broja but they are injured. 

“It is not easy in this moment to find the right profile. We are in the process, working to see if we can add some players in this area. But it is a job that is not easy for the club. For sure, they are working really hard to add some players.

“If it is not possible, we need to wait until Nkunku and Broja will be ready and we have the help of Mason [Burstow]. I don’t think the problem is that we need another striker. The chances that we created, we need to be more clinical. It is not only the strikers that need to be clinical in front of goal.”

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