Chelsea has increased their bid to sign 19-year-old Gusto Malo to £30m from Lyon. In this January transfer window, Chelsea has already spent £238m and they are not backing down from transfers as they are ready to spend more to strengthen their squad which is currently sitting 10th in the EPL table only one point behind Liverpool.
Potter declared his intention to sign the French right-back earlier in January and now he has confirmed his intention by improving his bid. However, despite an increase in the bid, Lyon still wants the player to remain at the camp until the end of the season, while Manchester United want him on their side.
This means if Chelsea or Manchester United will be able to secure his services he’ll have to stay in France until the end of the season but on a loan basis. On the other hand, Potter is on a serious edge currently and he’s working extra hard to strengthen his squad and he need a right-back in this process meaning it will be very difficult for him to loan Gusto to Lyon once the deal is done.
Gusto Malo made his professional debut for Lyon in the 2020-21 season at the age of 17 years and after hitting 18 years the 2021-22 season served as his breakthrough season making 37 appearances. The French native got a chance to shine after the departure of Leo Dubois, with the shortage of full-backs in the club, Gusto started his first game on the 7th of August. This made him the youngest defender to start a Ligue 1 game for Lyons since Samuel Umtiti.
Following his impressive performance, he has attracted attention from different big clubs including Chelsea and their rivals Manchester United. With only 18 months remaining in his contract, Gusto is likely to join his former mates, Anthony Martial and Alexandre Lacazette in the Premier League side.
Aside from Premier League, Didier Deschamps has also spotted Gusto who is yet to make his senior international debut. Gusto has represented France at the youth level but having Portuguese Ancestral roots makes him eligible to play for the Portuguese national team.