Chelsea have stepped up interest in Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric. The Mirror believes the Blues will join London rivals Fulham on the list of suitors for the 21-year-old. He has been valued by his club, Dinamo Zagreb, at roughly £3.5m and has also attracted attention from Russian club CSKA Moscow and Serie A club Udinese.

Andrej Kramaric (R)
Reuters

Kramaric is presently on loan to Zagreb's city rivals Lokomotiva, for whom he has scored 14 times in 19 appearances. He was on target in Saturday's 5-1 league win over Slaven Koprivinca and is expected to be available for a summer transfer.

However, a move to Stamford Bridge may not be the best option at this stage in his career, given he may struggle for first team football with Fernando Torres and Demba Ba already established at the west London club. In addition, Roman Abramovich's club have also been linked to German international André Schürrle and Atletico Madrid's £50m Colombian forward Radamel Falcao.

Rafa Benitez on FA Cup Loss

Meanwhile, interim Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez blamed referee Chris Foy for the club's 1-2 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday. The reigning Premier League champions snuck past Benitez's men to the final of the FA Cup, riding on goals from Samir Nasri and Sergio Agüero.

However, Benitez claimed Foy's failure to spot a foul on Torres, by City captain Vincent Kompany, cost his side the match. The Belgian centre-back seemed to have manhandled the Spanish striker inside the penalty box.

"I was disappointed... the penalty was not given... could make a big difference. It could be a red card and a goal for us and it could change the game. The picture shows Torres's shirt up," the ex-Liverpool boss claimed. Benitez did admit credit was due to City but insisted decisions like Foy's could make a big difference.

In any case, Chelsea must now pick themselves up for the midweek game at Fulham. The Blues have slipped to fourth in the table, after Arsenal's defeat of Norwich City over the weekend. However, they can return to third and automatic Champions League qualification with three points from Craven Cottage.

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