Transfer: Chelsea suffer Kerim Alajbegovic blow

Chelsea has been handed a transfer blow in its pursuit of Bayer Leverkusen winger Kerim Alajbegovic.

According to Sky Germany, the Blues has lose out in the race to sign Alajbegovic as Juventus have agreed a £34.2m deal to sign the 18-year-old.

Chelsea were in pole position to sign Alajbegovic and had hoped to reach an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen for the player’s signature over the weekend.

However, Juventus has agreed an initial £28.2m fee with the Bundesliga club for Alajbegovic, which could rise to £34.2m after add-ons.

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso is understood to have been impressed by the Bosnia and Herzegovina international during his time in Leverkusen’s youth system.

Alonso was directly involved in convincing Alajbegovic to make the move to Stamford Bridge.