AS Monaco star Tiemoue Bakayoko’s switch to Chelsea will be completed within the next 24 hours.
The 22-year-old French defensive midfielder landed in London on Thursday and completed his medical with the Blues on the very next day, despite doubts over his fitness due to a knee injury. He was on the verge of signing a contract on Friday evening, having spent the entire day at Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham and talking to boss Antonio Conte.
However the expected move was put on hold due to several reasons, with Monaco vice president Vadim Vasilyev demanding a higher transfer fee at the last minute and disagreements over agent fees.
According to French sports daily L’Equipe, disagreements of the proposed fee that needs to be paid to various agents involved in the deal is holding up his transfer to Chelsea at the moment.
And later in the evening the French midfielder took to Twitter and posted a couple of cryptic tweets that raised doubts over his expected move to Chelsea.
His first tweet on Friday evening had only emojis and indicated that he was heading back to Monaco, before coming up with another strange tweet that read: “Just 2 days and I already Miss U.”
Some reports also suggested that his medical broke at Chelsea on Friday and his strange tweets only intensified such rumours.
However, FootTheBall sources have confirmed that the deal is on the verge of completion and Bakayoko is expected to pen a five-year deal with Chelsea by Sunday evening.
Tiemoue Bakayoko was welcomed by some of his fellow Chelsea team-mates as he went out for dinner in London with David Luiz and Willian.
The Brazilian helped Chelsea’s imminent signing to explore the night-life in London as they went out for dinner with him at the lavish Mayfair, before heading towards Novikov.
ALSO READ: Chelsea Agree £40M Fee For Tiemoue Bakayoko: Monaco Ace Set For Medical And Five-Year Deal
Premier League champions Chelsea have finally agreed in principle with AS Monaco over a £40m transfer fee for signing Tiemoue Bakayoko.
The Blues bosses have been trying to seal the deal for weeks and now finally they have reached an agreement with Ligue 1 champions Monaco.
The Monaco superstar has all but confirmed his switch to Chelsea, with the Blues set to officially announce the signing by Sunday evening.
The French defensive midfielder is undergoing a medical and the Premier League champions will splurge £40million plus add-ons for securing the signatures of the 22-year-old Monaco man.
Bakayoko has been keen on joining Antonio Conte at Chelsea and has already followed several Blues stars on Twitter, before using the social media platform to troll Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.
Earlier reports had claimed that Mourinho was all set to hijack the French midfielder from under the noses of the Blues, but Bakayoko has opted for a switch to Chelsea instead.
On Friday morning, Bakayoko played foul with the emotions of the Manchester United fans by tweeting red and white emojis with two love hearts, and his location set in Manchester, to hint that he is set to join the Red Devils, despite him staying in London. But, later he deleted the tweet.
Earlier, on Thursday night, the French star engaged in a conversation with new Blues team-mate Michy Batshuayi on Twitter, answering questions on whether he has already signed a deal with Chelsea.
The teasing conversation involved the use of a lot of emojis and hinted that a move to Chelsea was on the verge of completion.
His arrival at the Stamford Bridge would see Nemanja Matic leaving the club with Manchester United in pole position to rope him in.
It is also understood that Nathaniel Chalobah will be offloaded as Watford have shown huge interest in securing his signatures.
Conte wants to add reinforcements in key areas before the start of the new season and Bakayoko will now become Chelsea’s second major signing this summer following Antonio Rudiger and a back-up goalkeeper Willy Caballero.
And now Bakayoko is expected to join the Blues squad on their pre-season tour to China and Singapore.
He landed in London on Thursday and had posted pictures of his journey on the Eurostar from France to London.