Chelsea face European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday evening.
The Blues booked their place in the final in New Jersey with a 2-0 victory over Brazilian side Fluminense in the semi-finals, while PSG defeated Spanish giants Real Madrid.
The Ligue 1 champions will go into Sunday’s final as overwhelming favourites, although Chelsea did win the competition – in its previous format – back in 2021.
In the meantime, it has emerged that the London side are interested in a La Liga star.
As reported by CaughtOffside, both Chelsea and London rivals Arsenal have enquired about the availability of Barcelona midfielder Marc Casado.
The report claims that the 21-year-old has also attracted interest from Manchester United, while German side Bayer Leverkusen have had a bid for the midfielder rejected.
Casado helped Barcelona to the La Liga title last term (Photo: Sipa US/Alamy)
Casado is a product of Barcelona’s famed La Masia youth academy and has now played more than 40 times for the Catalan side at senior level.
It is claimed that the La Liga giants do not want to sell Casado and are intent on keeping him, although they could reconsider their stance if an offer in the region of £43 million was tabled.
The Spanish midfielder is contracted to Barcelona until the end of the 2027/28 campaign, but it appears that the La Liga side could face a battle to keep hold hold of the player beyond this summer.
While both Chelsea and Arsenal have made initial enquiries about the player’s availability, the report claims that Man United have not yet initiated any contact in relation to a move for the Spaniard.
Casado has a release clause of around £86.5 million in his current contract, putting Barcelona in a relatively commanding position during any potential negotiations.