It is believed that a deal by Chelsea for Marseille defender Cesar Azpilicueta could be very much accelerated after Spain’s Olympic team were unexpectedly eliminated from the tournament last night although reports from France claim progress on the move has been extremely slow.
A 1-0 defeat to Honduras after losing to Japan by the same scoreline means Spain cannot now qualify for the quarter-finals and will return home after Wednesday’s game with Morocco at Manchester United’s Old Trafford.
Chelsea have reportedly made an enquiry for the Spanish defender Azpilicueta and are being heavily linked with an £8million move but a source close to Marseille told the La Provence newspaper in the city that the Blues had made no further approaches following an initial enquiry.
“We have nothing new,” the source said.
“We’ll get there, but we do not control the timing. It is the buyers who can move it on, not the sellers … ”
