Chelsea transfer news: Blues make offer for Man Utd target Hakan Calhanoglu
Chelsea have made an offer for Bayer Leverkusen star Hakan Calhanoglu a source close to the player revealed to Turkish-Football.
The Blues have been keeping close tabs on Calhanoglu as have Manchester United over the first half of the season.
See More: Chelsea transfer news: Hakan Calhanoglu – “God willing, I will be a Chelsea player next season”
The London based outfit are in the market looking to replace Oscar who joined the Chinese league on a big money move.
Calhanoglu is unlikely to leave over the January transfer window but a summer move could be on the cards.
The attacking midfielder is keen on a Premier League move in the future and has been linked with a move to England over the past few transfer windows.
Bayer signed Calhanoglu for €14.5 million from HSV Hamburg in 2014 and still have another two-and-a-half years remaining on his current contract.
The 22-year-old attacking midfielder is renowned for his free-kicks and Chelsea have not exactly been prolific from set-pieces this season.
The Blues have scored six goals from set-pieces this season which is less that Hull City, West Ham and West Brom.
Calhanoglu would become the first Turkish player to join Chelsea since Gokhan Tore who is currently on loan at West Ham.
Like Tore, Mesut Ozil, Emre Can and Ilkay Gundogan, Calhanoglu was born in Germany into a Turkish family.
Turks form the largest ethnic minority population in Germany and players of Turkish origin are able to represent Turkey or Germany at international level.
Calhanoglu represents Turkey while Ozil, Can and Gundogan play for Germany.
The young attacking midfielder has five goals and six appearances for Bayer in 20 appearances this season. In total he has 26 goals and 28 assists for the Bundesliga outfit.
Calhanoglu has not played in the Premier League before but he does have experience playing top-tier German, Champions League and international football.
The Bayer star has 26 caps for Turkey and has scored eight times for the national team.
Bayer have struggled this season and are currently in 9th place, eight points off a top four spot.
The Bundesliga side did however, book a place in the Champions League Round of 16 where they will play Atletico Madrid.
In other Chelsea transfer news the Blues have recalled Nathan Ake from his loan spell at Bournemouth according to the Express.
