Borussia Dortmund are now confident of securing a deal to sign Ajax and Mexico midfielder Edson Alvarez, 90min understands.
Alvarez, who brought to Europe by Ajax from Mexican giants Club America in 2019, had been determined to join Chelsea last summer when the Blues showed serious interest towards the end of an already busy transfer window at Stamford Bridge.
90min reported at the time that Chelsea had offered €50m for the player, an increase on the €40m bid that Newcastle had seen rejected earlier in the summer.
Alvarez was keen for Ajax to accept it, seeing the opportunity as too good to turn down. He even refused to train in an attempt to force a transfer. But a major issue for Ajax was the transfer window for Dutch clubs closing 24 hours earlier than the rest of Europe due to an administrative error, leaving the Eredivisie club with no time to source a replacement were they to sell.
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Alavrez, who has played 43 times for Ajax in all competitions this season as a holding midfielder or occasional centre-back, later expressed hope that the chance would come again.
"I am very disappointed about it," he told ESPN in October, shortly before heading to the 2022 World Cup with Mexico. "But I am convinced that one day another big club will come for me. This winter, or in the summer. For now, I can only focus on Ajax."
Manchester United, Arsenal and West Ham are the other clubs who have watched Alvarez over the past 12 months and considered him an option. But 90min understands that Dortmund, who are expected to sell Jude Bellingham to Real Madrid this summer, are confident they will strike a deal.
Dortmund are on the verge of a first Bundesliga title since 2012 and will get their hands on the trophy as long as they beat Mainz at home in the final game on Saturday, or if 10-time back-to-back reigning champions Bayern Munich drop points on their visit to Koln.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Borussia Dortmund confident of signing Ajax star Chelsea offered €50m for.
