London: Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has signalled that he is ready to spend 80 million pounds on securing the services of strikers Luka Modric and Carlos Tevez.
He is prepared to gamble on the unpredictable Argentinian to help make his Champions League dream come true this season.
Sources close to the Russian say he is giving new manager Andre Villas-Boas “whatever it takes” to get the players he needs – and that could include Manchester City star Tevez, a daily reports.
A second bid of more than 30 million pounds is to be made for Tottenham Hotspurs star Modric despite Spurs insisting that the Croat is going nowhere.
The prospect of pairing Tevez with Fernando Torres has become a possibility after the Argentininan hinted that he quite fancies a move to London – despite originally saying he wanted to be nearer his daughters in Argentina.
Manchester City are likely to demand up to 50 million pounds for Tevez, who still has three years left on his contract.
There is no one remotely near Argentina who could stump up that sort of cash – or meet his wages.
Although Modric remains the No 1 target, Chelsea are also understood to have lined up a potential alternative for him if Spurs dig their heels in and keep the unsettled midfielder to his contract at White Hart Lane.
Villas-Boas is believed to be prepared to go head to head with mentor Jose Mourinho for Palermo’s Argentinian playmaker Javier Pastore.
ANI
First Published: Sunday, July 10, 2011, 13:17