Serbian outfit Cukaricki are close to completing the permanent signing of Chelsea midfielder Danilo Pantic, according to reports.
Pantic joined the Blues from FK Partizan back in 2015 for a fee of around £1.25million.
However, the 23-year-old’s time at Stamford Bridge has failed to get off the ground, with the midfielder having been sent out on loan on five separate occasions.
After joining Hungarian club Fehervar FC on loan back in September, the Serbian was poised to stay with them until the end of the 2019/20 season
However, his time in Hungary was cut short and he sealed a move to Cukaricki in his native Serbia in January, signing on loan.
Now, with his Chelsea career seemingly dead and buried without making a single appearance, it appears as though he is set to join Cukaricki on a permanent basis.
It is claimed that Chelsea are ready to trim the number of players they tend to send out on loan every season, even though Pantic is not expected to draw in a massive transfer fee.
Nevertheless, if the deal goes through and Pantic seals a move to Cukaricki on a permanent basis it will free up another space in Frank Lampard’s squad
Chelsea to sell Emerson
Palmieri was signed by Antonio Conte in 2018 to provide competition on the left side of the defence to Marcos Alonso.
But the Italian has been unable to establish himself as the first choice and spent much of this season on the bench under Frank Lampard.
The Chelsea defence is an area Lampard is desperate to strengthen in the transfer market this summer.
And with Palmieri’s contract ending in June 2022, the FA Cup runners-up are willing to let him leave after just two years.
According to Football Insider, Lampard needs to raise funds to enable him to sign better players and has put Palmieri up for sale.
The report says Inter, who are now managed by Conte, are set to lodge a bid for the Italian international in the coming days.
The money generated from Palmieri’s exit could be put towards signing Leicester’s Ben Chilwell, who Lampard is an admirer of.
Meanwhile, another player of interest to Lampard and Chelsea is Declan Rice