Chelsea make first offer for 27-year-old midfielder - Reports

Chelsea have reportedly opened talks to make a move for Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. This is according to Italian outlet CalcioNews24 (reported via Football.London), who believe that the Blues could be making several deals with the Serie A outfit.

Reports have placed the 27-year-old Serbian as a £68 million-rated player, with the Blues keen to use their own players in exchange to drive down the price of the transfer.

The Blues are said to be open to selling Emerson Palmieri or Ruben Loftus-Cheek in exchange for Milinkovic-Savic (plus cash). However, Lazio are said to be uninterested in any swap deals and want the price to be paid in full for Milinkovic-Savic.

Do Chelsea need Milinkovic-Savic?

SS Lazio v Hellas Verona FC - Serie A

The Blues currently have Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho, N'Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek as the four options to play in the two-man midfield pivot.

They will also be getting the services of returning players like Billy Gilmour (from Norwich City) and the excellent Conor Gallagher, who had a breakout season on loan with Crystal Palace.

This means that Thomas Tuchel's side are comfortably stacked in midfield going into the new season.

While the likes of Jorginho and Kante will need replacing in the next few years, the Blues are possibly better off addressing other areas of their squad in this summer's transfer window.

Tough summer for the Blues?

Chelsea had a change in ownership at the end of May. Todd Boehly and his consortium officially took over last month and spent the first few weeks catching up with the situation at the club.

They spent the next few days getting adjusted to the trade and since then have made a radical move to clean the house at the boardroom level. Boehly is the new interim Sporting Director and CEO at Stamford Bridge.

All this commotion at the top level has pushed the Blues behind on transfer activities. While they have been linked with several players, Chelsea are yet to land a single summer target.

Defence is where most work needs to be done as the Blues are set to lose two defenders in Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger on free transfers.