Chelsea owner Todd Boehly jets to Barcelona for transfer talks

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly flew to Barcelona on Thursday to discuss a range of possible trades.

Barcelona want Chelsea full-backs Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso and are willing to offer players through negotiations rather than pay more than a nominal fee.

Dutch-born USA full-back Sergino Dest and Holland international Memphis Depay are said to be among the names on offer.

Todd Boehly was filmed after arriving in Spain to hold transfer talks with Barcelona

Marcos Alonso (right) and Cesar Azpilicueta (centre) are both targets for Barcelona

Barcelona director Mateu Alemany, agent Jordi Cruyff and president Joan Laporta were all present at the meeting with Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.

Chelsea have been linked with Frenkie de Jong but he would prefer to be linked with Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.

He has long been United’s No. 1 target in the summer and they have agreed a transfer fee that could rise to £70million.

But as Sportsmail reported on Wednesday, a move is now being held up by the fact that Barcelona still owe De Jong £17million in deferred payments and bonuses from the pandemic.

Frenkie de Jong is of interest for Chelsea but Manchester United is his first choice

De Jong has made 140 appearances for Barcelona since joining from Ajax and has scored 13 times in his three seasons. His only trophy at the Nou Camp was the Copa del Rey in 2021.

A move was also complicated by Barcelona president Joan Laporta’s public insistence that the club had no intention of letting De Jong go.

Bayern Munich, meanwhile, believe Matthijs de Ligt has a commitment to join them ahead of Chelsea this summer.

The Germans still have to agree on a fee with Juventus.

After the departures of Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen, the Blues want to strengthen themselves at the back.

Matthijs de Ligt is a target for Chelsea but Bayern Munich believe they are first choice