Stoke City number one is a transfer target for Chelsea, this summer:
Premier League title-holders Chelsea, are closing in on the signing of Stoke City goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic.
The West Londoners view the Bosnia international as a suitable back-up to first-choice keeper Thibaut Courtois, with Petr Cech set to complete a move to capital rivals, Arsenal.
Cech will move across London to the Emirates for £11m next week, with Jose Mourinho on the look-out for an immediate replacement for the Czech Republic veteran, who had been at Stamford Bridge for eleven years.
27-year-old Begovic, is entering the final twelve months of his current deal at Stoke, and held talks with his manager, Mark Hughes, over his future at the Britannia Stadium.
And with Stoke’s number one yet to commit his future to the club – speculation is growing to whether the Potters will be forced to sell him this summer, rather than the possibility of losing Begovic on a free-transfer, come the end of next season.
Asmir in-demand:
The Staffordshire outfit reportedly rejected a bid of around £10m from Aston Villa for Begovic, who signed for Stoke in 2010 from Portsmouth.
However, reports on Sunday suggest that Chelsea now lead the queue for the in-demand shot-stopper, having also attracted interest from Real Madrid and Manchester United recently.
Begovic, who has appeared 158 times during his five-years at Stoke, lost his place to Jack Butland for a part of the 2014/15 campaign, something that Mark Hughes admitted the player wasn’t best pleased about.
by Ben Reardon
