Chelsea Draft in Famed Advisor in Attempt to Hijack Brazilian Star's Transfer to AC Milan

Chelsea have turned to leading football advisor Kia Joorabchian in a last-ditch attempt to hijack Brazilian star Bernard's transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk to AC Milan.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Joorabchian has been involved in a number of key transfer dealings with South American and particularly Brazilian players, including helping to secure deals for David Luiz, Alex and Oscar over the line in the past. He also played a key role in Philippe Coutinho's transfer to Barcelona.

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One of Bernard's agents, Giuliano Bertolucci, has also had a key role in several prominent Chelsea transfers in recent seasons. According to reports in Italy, the player's preference has been a move to Serie A with Milan and a deal is said to be close to completion.

However, due to the Italian club's busy transfer window - including trying to finalise deals for Gonzalo Higuain and Mattia Caldara - the Brazilian's agents felt there was time for one final discussion with Chelsea representatives in London.

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The Shakhtar forward is believed to have asked for a three year contract at €3m per year - approximately £50,000-a-week - and a further €2m fee to his agents. It's expected he'll demand an increase on that offer to make the late switch to Chelsea.

With the money in the Premier League and Chelsea's own resources, it wouldn't be considered too expensive of an outlay and may very well be met by the London club.

In order to further attempt to steal away the talented Brazilian from Milan, Chelsea have drafted in the services of Joorabchian.

It remains to be seen what role Joorabchian will officially have in any deal completed. He is often incorrectly referred to as a football agent in the press, although the Iranian businessman is not a licensed agent.

The involvement of unlicensed football agents in transfers in the Premier League is prohibited by the Football Association.