Ajax midfielder Edson Alvarez goes on strike to force £43m Chelsea transfer

Edson Alvarez has missed training with Ajax in order to force through his €50 million (£43.2m) move to Chelsea, according to reports in the Netherlands.

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Chelsea are looking to strengthen Thomas Tuchel’s midfield options and their approach to sign PSV’s Ibrahim Sangare was turned down this week.

Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz is also on Chelsea’s radar, with reports claiming that the club would accept a £20m offer as the Brazilian has entered the final year of his contract.

According to De Telegraaf, Chelsea have submitted a €50m (£43.2m) bid to Ajax for Alvarez and the Mexico international is keen on a move to Stamford Bridge.

The report claims that Alvarez has skipped Ajax’s training session on Thursday in order to push through a move before the Premier League’s 11pm transfer deadline.

It’s also claimed that Alvarez remains hopeful that Ajax will negotiate with Chelsea as they have not rejected their offer and has told the club that he wants to secure his ‘dream’ move to Stamford Bridge.

Alvarez’s former teammate Antony used a similar tactic to force through his £85m move to Manchester United this week.

The Brazilian winger refused to train with Ajax last month and missed their last two Eredivisie games before a deal was finally agreed with United on Sunday.

Ajax, however, are in a different position to last weekend as they are now unable to sign a replacement for Alvarez as the Eredivisie’s transfer window closed on Wednesday due to an administration error.

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