Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is reportedly interested in Sampdoria front man Luis Muriel. Conte is very keen to pair him up with Diego Costa.
Muriel has played 13 matches for Sampdoria in this season scoring six goals. Antonio Conte had the chances to watch the Columbian forward during his stint with Juventus and has been a keen admirer of the player. Chelsea have right now have only two strikers Diego Costa and Michy Batshuayi at their disposal and the latter has already been linked with a move to his former club Marseille.
Muriel is very quick with the ball at his feet and is very effective on counter attack. The striker signed on permanently for the Serie A side from Udinese after a couple of loan spells and was compared to former Brazilian star Ronaldo de Lima hen he burst onto the scene.
Napoli also showed their interest as Arkadiusz Milik has been ruled out due to a crucial ligament injury and Manolo Gabbiadini has failed to impress so far. But Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero clarified that the Columbian is not for sale unless any club matches his release clause.
He said, “Aurelio [De Laurentiis, Napoli president] hasn’t called me for Muriel because the player is not for sale,
“At the moment I’ll hold on tight to him and stay calm given that De Laurentiis hasn’t called me.
“To think, when Muriel wasn’t playing they wanted to give me €15m for him, when I paid €12m, but I said no. Muriel has a clause of €35m (£30.9m).”
