Chelsea have spent a cool £217.5million in the summer transfer window but Enzo Maresca isn’t anywhere close to finalising his squad. The Blues have added 10 new players, with big-money signings including Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Wolves and Leicester City respectively.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
But Maresca has his sights set on at least two more high-profile deals before the August 30 transfer deadline. Meanwhile, the club’s sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart will be occupied with offloading players to balance the books, with 15 transfers expected in the final two weeks of the window.
Express Sport looks at which players could arrive this week and those who are set to depart.
Incomings
Chelsea’s season could hinge on whether they manage to thrash out a deal with Napoli in a complicated swap involving Victor Osimhen and Romelu Lukaku.
Lukaku is not in Maresca’s plans and is set to leave permanently after loans to Inter Milan and Roma, but the Partenopei’s demands for Osimhen have so far proved difficult to meet.
The 25-year-old is keen to leave but not on a straight loan, meaning Chelsea will have to stump up a sizeable fee and include players in the deal if they want to recruit the Nigerian.
A potential deal including a £38m fee up front with Lukaku and Cesare Casadei moving to Naples has been floated, which would in theory meet Napoli’s £85m value for their prized asset.
The other deal that could materialise may see Joao Felix make a surprise return to Stamford Bridge 12 months after the west London outfit turned down the chance to sign him.
Talks have been ongoing with Atletico Madrid for over a week concerning a £42m deal, although it may only happen when Conor Gallagher finally completes his protracted transfer.
Outgoings
With Gallagher on his way out of Stamford Bridge, he is likely to be joined by several Stamford Bridge favourites. Trevoh Chalobah, Armando Broja and Ben Chilwell are poised to be sold in the current transfer window after being frozen out under Maresca.
Chalobah has been linked with Crystal Palace, Broja is subject of interest from AC Milan and Chilwell may be tempted by the prospect of a possible return to Leicester City on loan.
Raheem Sterling was also a shock absentee from the squad for the Premier League opener against Manchester City and the 29-year-old could be offloaded, with Juventus interested in the England international.
Many more names could follow them out the door as Chelsea seek to raise around £150m in total from 13 departures, with Djordje Petrovic, David Datro Fofana, Carney Chukwuemeka Kepa Arrizabalaga, Bashir Humphreys and Angelo all searching for a new club before the deadline…CONTINUE READING>>
