Report: Coentrao eyes move to Chelsea

By ESPNSTAR.com staff

Signed in the summer of 2011 to provide Real Madrid's first-choice left-back Marcelo with some competition, Coentrao failed to displace the Brazilian from Real manager Jose Mourinho's starting line-up, making just 12 La Liga starts in Los Blancos' run-up to the title.

Despite Marcelo suffering a broken foot in the early months of the current campaign, a series of uninspired performances and niggling injuries have prevented the Portuguese full-back from capitalizing on his team-mate's absence to impress Mourinho.

Rumours in Spain indicate that Coentrao has been offered in a part-exchange deal for Tottenham's Gareth Bale, prompting the former Benfica man to seriously consider his future at the Santiago Bernabeu. According to the Daily Mirror, Coentrao is unwilling to allow himself to stagnate on the Los Blancos bench and is open to a Premier League move, but the 24-year old would prefer to sign for Spurs' London rivals Chelsea.

The situation is one which the Blues are monitoring with great interest, as the club are expected to lose Ashley Cole in the near future after refusing to offer anything more than a single year extension on his contract. However, a considerably large bid for Coentrao, who signed for Real at 24 million pounds, is believed to be necessary before the Spanish side will begin negotiations.