'God willing, I will be a Chelsea player next season': Hakan Calhanoglu expects Blues move

Hakan Calhanoglu has played his final game for Bayer Leverkusen and "god willing" will join Chelsea in the summer transfer window, the Turkey international has stated. The 22-year-old will not play again this season after being banned for four months by Fifa for accepting a €100,000 bribe, and has wasted little time in turning his attention to his next career move.

Leverkusen have supported Calhanoglu yet the player is ready to abandon the Bundesliga club at the end of the campaign. In 22 appearances this term he has scored seven goals and made seven assists, a season that has included playing in both Champions League group matches against Tottenham Hotspur.

Those outings against Spurs have seemingly made Calhanoglu eager for a move to England. The former Karlsruher and Hamburg man has already expressed an interest in moving to Manchester United and Barcelona, and now has an eye on a move to Premier League leaders Chelsea.

"God willing, I will be a Chelsea player next season," Calhanoglu told Turkish daily newspaper Fanatik, before adding: "There are also a number of other clubs interested in signing me." Meanwhile, website Turkish-Football claimed the Stamford Bridge club have made a bid for the player ahead of the summer.

Victory over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge kept Chelsea nine points ahead in the title race, and with Antonio Conte's side having a comfortable lead at the summit the Italian is ready to turn attention to his plans in the summer transfer window. Conte refrained from improving his squad during January, meaning any surgery made to his squad before next term will be left until the end of the current campaign.

Calhanoglu has made a habit of gazing flirtatiously towards clubs in England, having already responded to report linking him with a move to United (The Daily Mail) by admitting he would be open to joining the Old Trafford club. Jose Mourinho has never publicly admitted his interest in the Turk and like Chelsea boss Conte will conduct the majority of his transfer business in the summer.

"If there was offers like everyone I would be happy. It would be very hard to decline an offer. My job is open to anything," Calhanoglu told LigTV. "Barcelona and Manchester United are both big clubs."