Chelsea closing in on incomings

The latest on Chelsea's pursuits of their top targets this summer

Chelsea Football Club have spent the majority of the summer on two things; the first, identifying and assessing how much it’d cost to acquire their top targets (especially the forward position) and an efficient attempt to ship the array of ‘deadwood' out of the club for as much money as possible.

If you include a couple of academy prospects in this shipping of outgoing players, then Chelsea are succeeding there in bringing funds back into the club. More exhilarating to most Chelsea fans is the fact that Chelsea have now identified their number one target in the forward position, Romelu Lukaku.

Romelu Lukaku - The Latest

As many know, I revealed a few months back that despite the heavy links to Erling Haaland, Chelsea hadn’t cut their ties in potentially bringing in Lukaku this summer, you can cite my article here from June 7th.

Chelsea kept the communication lines open, many at the board level have always held an interest/been intrigued by bringing Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge, accompanied by the fact he is the more affordable and ‘easier deal to do’ from these options.

Things have certainly accelerated in the past few days, to the point where we are very close to seeing Chelsea and Inter Milan agree a fee to bring Lukaku back to West London.

This is the final step in the process, with Chelsea still aggressively pursuing this deal in order to get a deal done as soon as possible, despite Italian media outlets citing a deal from Inter Milan’s side.

A couple of potential reasons for these reports would be to either paint a certain narrative to protect Inter’s face, or to aid/give Inter adequate time to find a replacement, of which they are actively attempting to do so.

It has been confirmed for a little while now Lukaku and his agent are wanting the deal to happen, Thomas Tuchel is a huge fan of the player and so is Roman Abramovich.

Chelsea want the deal done efficiently, in an attempt to get the player in for the UEFA Super Cup final. Personal teams are not an issue and those financials are all but confirmed and ready to go, all signs point towards a deal very soon.

I can confidently say at the time of writing, I have been told and believe Romelu Lukaku will be a Chelsea player soon.

Jules Kounde

Chelsea’s priority target after the forward saga is Sevilla’s young French defender Jules Kounde. We know Chelsea have monitored this player for a long time now, plus Tuchel is a fan of the player’s attributes and compatibility for his system. Kounde has a release clause of €80 million, however it has since been understood Sevilla are willing to accept an offer slightly below that in order to ease financial difficulties with La Liga’s business associates watching closely (cite the Messi news yesterday).

Chelsea went in with offers including cash and players, with Kurt Zouma heavily linked to this saga, also other first-team players being offered to Sevilla in exchange.

Chelsea are reluctant to give Sevilla the large lump sum they are after, by including players of interest to the Spanish Club as a way to ease the financial burden. With that said, Sevilla are holding strong as of now and are awaiting Chelsea’s next move, which may come shortly after the above deal is concluded.

Kounde has made it clear he would like to move to Chelsea, with personal terms agreed very swiftly alongside positive talks between Chelsea and his representatives.

The player hasn’t featured recently in Sevilla’s pre-season outings, as he awaits the two clubs to agree a fee to make the move happen. Chelsea are still confident a deal will happen and have placed the deal very high on their list, the only question mark is how much Chelsea are willing to part way with to get the player. At the time of writing, I have been told to expect Chelsea to get this deal done, however, there may have a little longer to wait.

Aurelien Tchouameni

Tchouameni is a player who has been heavily linked with Chelsea, especially since Thomas Tuchel took over the club. Chelsea have been laboriously scouting in France for a little while now, Tuchel himself plying his trade there with Paris Saint Germain in recent times. We know Tuchel is a fan of this player and is also a big advocate of Chelsea signing a defensive midfielder this window.

We know Chelsea and Tchouameni’s representatives have spoken, many will now know those same representatives represent Jules Kounde, of whom I spoke on above. Chelsea have indicated they have significant interest in the player, however, no guarantee of a bid going in as of yet. Whilst Tuchel would like a defensive midfielder this summer, plus Chelsea’s board understands this concept, this isn’t seen as a priority signing as of now.

With that said, Chelsea are keeping close tabs on the situation, and things can change very quickly. As I revealed a few weeks back, Chelsea will not be signing their number one midfield target Declan Rice this summer, due to West Ham’s reluctance to lower their price for their prized possession. Chelsea believe they are able to potentially secure the English midfielder for a lower fee in the future and are willing to be patient.

I have been told Chelsea’s pursuit of a midfielder this window depends on a couple of factors. A couple of players that are currently involved in Chelsea’s pre season preparations, namely Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Timoue Bakayoko, and their futures with the club, also how much Chelsea can raise from other outgoings (I’ve mentioned this once or twice before this window).

To conclude, whilst I definitely wouldn’t say give up on this one yet, as of today I would find it unlikely for us to get a deal done this summer for Tchouameni. To clarify further, there is still a long way to go.

Other areas -

Chelsea will not sign Declan Rice this summer, nor Danny Ings (Chelsea FT cheers!).

Chelsea are still actively working on an abundance of outgoings in order to raise funds for further deals and to trim Thomas Tuchel’s playing squad.

Armando Broja and/or Tammy Abraham likely to leave. Plenty of interest from Italy. Marcos Alonso attracting a lot of interest in Europe. Ross Barkley receiving a lot of domestic interest, however financial negotiations won’t be easy.

We are not signing Lionel Messi, sadly.

Exciting news on the way Chelsea fans, one final ask of patience. I am thankful for everyone’s support recently on Twitter and Instagram regarding the Lukaku deal and more. I am very excited to share my first “Dan Deal” with you all very soon, plus further exciting personal news coming out soon. I am hopeful in my next article, I am talking about a new Chelsea signing or two, we will see.

Written by Dan McCarthy

Twitter: @MaccaSport Instagram: @Macca.Sport