Reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano has shared an intriguing update on Chelsea‘s transfer plans, with BlueCo already in contact over signing a player ahead of next year.
Chelsea’s full summer transfer window explained
It has been a very promising start to the Premier League season for new head coach Enzo Maresca, who has overseen three wins from his first five top-flight matches in charge of the Blues.
Impressive attacking displays against Wolves and West Ham have only been dampened by an opening weekend defeat to champions Man City, while Chelsea were pretty unlucky not to defeat Crystal Palace in their 1-1 draw, given they dominated the overall play and created a host of chances.
Chelsea also displayed real grit when they came away from Bournemouth with a 1-0 victory, with Robert Sanchez saving a penalty and Maresca’s side coping well defensively before Christopher Nkunku scored a winner in the dying minutes.
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Chelsea’s next Premier League fixtures |
Date |
|---|---|
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Brighton (home) |
Today |
|
Nottingham Forest (home) |
October 6 |
|
Liverpool (away) |
October 20 |
|
Newcastle (home) |
October 27 |
|
Man United (away) |
November 3 |
The west Londoners take on Brighton at 3pm today, aiming to make it five games unbeaten in all competitions and a third consecutive top-flight victory.
This comes after a summer of serious spending yet again at Stamford Bridge, with Joao Felix, Mike Penders, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Marc Guiu, Renato Veiga, Estevao Willian, Filip Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Aaron Anselmino, Caleb Wiley, Omari Kellyman, Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho all joining for a total of around £200m.
As has been the case since Clearlake Capital’s takeover of the club in 2022, Chelsea remain active as they scour for new additions to their squad. Reports claim that they want a prolific new goalscorer, despite Nicolas Jackson’s fine start to 2024/25, with Victor Osimhen assured by Chelsea they’ll try to strike a deal for him in the new year.
Meanwhile, some at Chelsea believe Victor Boniface should be their number-one striker target instead of Osimhen, so the 25-year-old Galatasaray forward is by no means their only option.
As per Romano’s Dailybriefing, via GiveMeSport, they also hold an interest in Aston Villa star Jhon Duran. The Colombia international has scored four goals in five appearances following a fantastic start to the season under Unai Emery, with all of his strikes coming from the substitutes’ bench.
Maresca and co are fully aware of the “special” 20-year-old’s start to this term, so much so that Chelsea are already in contact over signing Duran.
“There have been some rumours of Barcelona chasing Jhon Duran in the last 24 hours, but let me say that Barca, at this moment, have not been active in negotiations for any striker,” said Romano.
“Obviously, they are keeping a close eye on the strikers market, but it’s not something really concrete because Hansi Flick is very happy with what Robert Lewandowski is doing. Jhon Duran was really close to joining West Ham in the window as we know, but the deal collapsed after more than five bids were presented by West Ham to Aston Villa.
“Duran wanted to move, but a deal didn’t happen between the clubs. Credits to Aston Villa, because they never wanted to accept those proposals, only super big money, something around £50m. West Ham only offered £42m/£43m plus add-ons with a percentage of a future sale, but Villa always said no.
“There are now rumours that several clubs are interested in Jhon Duran and I can confirm that Chelsea really tried to sign him too. Chelsea rate the player and still like the player at this moment. Contacts are ongoing, but it’s not something that we can definitely update now.”