Chelsea will hope to take a huge step towards Champions League qualification by beating Manchester United on Friday evening.
The Blues currently sit fifth in the Premier League table which would be enough to secure a place in Europe’s top club competition next term, however they are only ahead of sixth-placed Aston Villa on goal difference.
Enzo Maresca’s side could qualify for the Europa League by beating Real Betis in the Europa Conference League final on May 28, but the Italian and the club’s supporters will both be keen to compete in the Champions League next term instead.
Those in charge of the Blues’ recruitment will likely want to bolster Maresca’s squad before the start of next season, but it appears that the West London club could be set to miss out on one of their transfer targets.
According to TBR Football, Chelsea are set to be denied the opportunity to sign defender Michael Kayode, who is currently on loan at Brentford.
Kayode has impressed since returning from injury recently (Photo: News Images Ltd/Alamy)
The report claims that the Bees are set to activate their option-to-buy clause, which will allow the West London side to sign the player permanently for a fee of £14 million.
Kayode, 20, joined Brentford on loan from Italian side Fiorentina in January for a fee of around £500k.
He initially struggled with injuries, but has been hugely impressive for Thomas Frank’s side since establishing himself as a regular at the start of April.
In total the Italian has played ten times for the Bees, but it appears his performances have been good enough to persuade the Premier League side to sign him permanently.
That could be bad news for both Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, with the two London rivals both said to be interested in the right-back.