There is a lot more business going on behind closed doors than just our pursuit of a new striker this summer (read the latest on Haaland here, and Lukaku here).
As we know, expect a few more bigger moves at the club this summer, outgoings as well as incomings.
Here are a few little updates for you..
Jorginho -
Maurizio Sarri looks set to be announced as the new manager of Lazio any time now, and what that will bring is Jorginho to Lazio rumours.
We all know he wants to return to Serie A one day, and it is also clear that Sarri and Jorginho have always had a very close relationship. Whether he will want to go to Lazio, and whether they can pay a fee that will suffice Chelsea, will remain to be seen. But keep an eye on this.
Olivier Giroud
Chelsea finally revealed that they triggered an option to extend Olivier Giroud’s contract back in April, he now has a deal until next June.
As I tweeted exclusively last week, Chelsea were not triggering it to keep him at the club, they triggered it to be able to get a small fee for him this summer. So expect him still to potentially depart, and the rumours of AC Milan negotiations were always true, and they still are.
I’m pretty confident that he probably will still leave this summer.
Michy Batshuayi
As others have reported, there is interest from Leeds United, very strong in fact. So Chelsea might be able to get some cash for him this summer.
Emerson Palmieri
Chelsea are at the moment holding firm on their £17 million valuation of the left back, and they are in negotiations with a couple of Italian clubs who at the minute, do not want to pay that much for him.
I think they will eventually find an agreement.
Saul Niguez
An interesting link here, multiple Spanish sources are claiming Chelsea have been enquiring about signing the 26-year old midfielder from Atletico Madrid.
I’ve not been told anything on this (doesn’t mean it isn’t true), and he is more of a centre midfielder than a defensive midfielder, which as I understand is the position Chelsea want to add in.
However, it wouldn’t be wise to dismiss the rumour entirely and might be worth keeping an eye on any developments.
As a final note, I can’t see any major deals happening until after the Euros now, it’s always wise for clubs to make their players play in these competitions before agreeing any sales, it can often help increase values etc.
Simon Phillips
Any thoughts on Kalvin Phillips of Leeds as an alternative to Declan ? He seems to have raised his game considerably under Bielsa and perhaps more achievable with a free loan of Ethan (with option to buy ?) or Gilmour as a pure loan and Tammy or Zouma as a swap sale.
Re: Sarri to Lazio. With cash in Serie A being a scarce commodity - does a swap of Jorginho with Milinkovic-Savic make sense with a sweetener of some Euros to ease the negotiations.