Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko has stressed that he is not scared by the impending arrival of Danny Drinkwater from Leicester City.
The England international is due to join the Blues before the transfer deadline with reports emerging a £30m fee has been finalised for his services.
Speaking to SFR Sport, Bakayoko insisted that he is not scared of new arrivals as the competition for places would only make him a better player. He added to praise the abilities for Drinkwater, who he feels will make the team stronger in the centre of the park.
He said: “I’m not scared of any player but it’s competition and that’s what makes you better. He [Drinkwater] is a good player and he’s going to help the team. We don’t have enough players in the centre and he will make the team stronger.”
Blues boss Antonio Conte has cut a frustrated figure during the course of this summer’s transfer window with the club’s hierarchy failing to make quick progress on his preferred targets. However, there appears to be movement prior to the deadline day with deals for both Drinkwater and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the pipeline.
Oxlade-Chamberlain is understood to have snubbed a fresh £180,000-a-week contract offer at Arsenal, and this has forced the north London club into a sale rather than losing him on a free in 10 months’ time. Conte has placed emphasis on bolstering the homegrown quota before the close of the transfer window, and he could potentially move in for another recruit in Everton’s Ross Barkley.
Barkley is currently on the sidelines with a hamstring injury sustained in training, but the Blues are hoping to seal a cut-price deal for the England international ahead of arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Toffees boss Ronald Koeman has already admitted that Barkley has no future at the club, and a deal of some kind is likely to be finalised before Thursday’s deadline.