Chelsea and Manchester United involved in 3-horse race to sign 23-year-old Ligue 1 star: Reports

Chelsea and Manchester United are reportedly in a transfer race to snap up AS Monaco star Vanderson, who has also drawn interest from a third Premier League club.

Vanderson, 23, has grown by leaps and bounds at Monaco since arriving from Brazilian outfit Gremio for a fee of over £9 million in January 2022. He helped his team finish second behind Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Ligue 1 standings last season.

Now, according to Caught Offside, Chelsea and Manchester United are currently keeping tabs on Vanderson. However, they are likely to face tough competition from Tottenham Hotspur in the near future.

Vanderson, whose current contract is set to run out in June 2028, is reportedly valued between £30 million and £34 million. He has registered six goals and 10 assists in 86 overall outings for his club so far.

Should Vanderson join the Blues, he would provide healthy competition to Reece James and Malo Gusto. On the other hand, he would compete with Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui for a first-team spot should he seal a permanent move to Manchester United.

Chelsea could spend close to £15 million to finance Manchester United star's loan deal

Speaking to Football Insider, finance expert Stefan Borson claimed that Chelsea are likely to spend around £15 million to cover Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho's loan move. He elaborated:

"In the right way, they have looked at the deal in the round. Yes, they are paying high headline wages, which is a consequence of the deal he was on at United. We believe they are paying the vast majority of those wages, so it could easily be £250,000-a-week. But we also understand they are not paying a loan fee, which is clearly a positive."

Offering more thoughts on Sancho's recent transfer, Borson concluded:

"Their total cost probably for this season all in might be £15 million for the player, which is not crazy. At the end of it, they will pay [a transfer fee] between £20 million and £25 million, which on the face of it, looks like a decent deal compared to what United paid for him. But all of that assumes he can regain his form."

Sancho, who left Borussia Dortmund for £73 million to move to United in 2021, made 83 appearances across all competitions for his parent club before joining the Blues. The 24-year-old Englishman has found the back of the net 12 times and laid out six assists for the Red Devils.

The ex-Manchester City youth player could make his debut for Chelsea in their league contest at Bournemouth this Saturday (September 14).