The latest on Saul, Kounde + More

Chelsea insider Dan McCarthy provides the latest on Chelsea's late incoming transfer pursuits

We have just days left of the 2021 summer transfer window, a window that has seen Chelsea sign a new third goalkeeper in Marcus Bettinelli and the return of fan-favourite, Romelu Lukaku.

Many Chelsea fans would class signing Lukaku alone as an 8/9-10 transfer window, however, Chelsea want more. Will they get more? Let’s bring you up to speed here…

Saul Niguez - Centre Midfielder, Atletico Madrid

Chelsea are pursuing the Spaniard and lead the race for his signature, as he is sure to leave Atletico Madrid in near future. As reported credibly by many reliable Chelsea sources, the deal will initially be a loan deal, not a permanent one. However, this is where the negotiations begin…

Atletico Madrid are keen on adding a mandatory buy option for the midfielder in any outgoing deal, in knowing the player is fully set on leaving Madrid and in the hope they can guarantee some money coming in once the loan expires. On the other hand, Chelsea are wanting a dry loan initially, but are willing to allow an option to buy clause to be instated to get things over the line.

With that said, I am told this is one of the final details to be agreed on to allow this deal to push through, specifically how much the option is. It is understood Atletico are looking for around 30-40m should any permanent deal occur, whereas Marina Granovskaia and Chelsea are wanting a figure around 25-30m. I am told personal terms shouldn’t be an issue, and the clubs are directly negotiating the finer details of this deal. Once this option is negotiated to the acceptance of both parties, things can move forward.

To clarify, the deal is not yet done. With that said, Saul is the likeliest of all the midfielder targets mentioned to sign for Chelsea this window, the next day or two are key.

Jules Kounde - Centre Back, Sevilla

Kounde is Chelsea and Tuchel’s priority target, which has only heightened since the signing of Romelu Lukaku was confirmed. Tuchel notified the club early in this window he wanted a centre-back capable of playing in a back three, and Kounde was highlighted immediately as someone who the club has tracked for a little while now.

Again, as reported credibly elsewhere, Kounde has recently rejected London rivals Tottenham and made it clear he wants a move to Chelsea, as far as already agreeing on personal terms in swift fashion for a five year deal. As of now, Chelsea have not submitted a formal bid, only intermediaries representing each club have spoken on a potential deal. What we do know is Sevilla want to recuperate as much of Kounde’s release clause as possible, which now stands at 90 million euros (up from 80 million as of August 15th) as revealed by Goal’s Nizaar Kinsella recently. However, Chelsea are hoping to pay somewhere around half of that at the maximum, knowing there is room to negotiate with the Spanish club.

As many now know, something I revealed a while back on Twitter now, this deal relies on Chelsea selling players to balance the books, lighten the squad, specifically in the defensive ranks. More specifically, the deal had and still relies on Kurt Zouma, and his potential move to West Ham.

The latest with Kurt Zouma is that despite last nights drama, the deal looks to still be on, with reports in France still insisting a medical will take place on Thursday.

With Tuchel making it clear Zouma is not his first choice centre back, evident in the fact he hasn’t featured in the Premier League for Chelsea this season, Zouma now is more inclined to strike a deal to leave the club and agree personal terms with West Ham.

Zouma is a Moyes target and the primary one, emphasised by our friend ExWHUEmployee. Zouma wants to play first-team football, however, he also wants to feel loved and wanted.

The Kounde move rather hinges on this one, as Fabrizio Romano is also reporting. His Sky Italy colleague, Gianluca Di Marzio though, claims Kounde to Chelsea is now ‘very close’. These dominoes could all happen fast now!

Aurelien Tchouameni - Centre Midfielder, Monaco

Many from Chelsea Twitter would love to see this man in a Chelsea shirt, a young exciting talent plying his trade with former Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas. Chelsea have tracked the player for a while now, with talks happening between the parties on a potential future deal (Not the club’s directly as of now).

With that said, whilst Tuchel has pushed the club for midfield reinforcement, inside knowledge I’ve had for a few weeks now. The undisputed #1 target in this area is/was Declan Rice, however, we now know that deal isn’t happening this summer (somewhat obvious from the start). When this became public, many turned straight to Tchouameni as the next man up.

The latest on this? Monaco’s UCL pursuit. Matt Law, a terrific Chelsea journalist recently shared the fact that if Monaco did fail to qualify for this season’s UCL campaign (as they have done), the player would be more willing to push for a move and a potential deal comes more likely. However, from what I am told, it appears this deal as of now is “unlikely to happen.”

Declan Rice - Defensive Midfielder, West Ham United

Chelsea and Tuchel’s favourable target in the defensive midfield area, former Chelsea academy player Declan Rice is that man. With that said, a deal for Rice is one of the hardest to do, as we’ve seen from the past 2-3 transfer windows.

West Ham pushed their price for the player so high in the hope teams would retract their interest in the player, which worked successfully, much to Rice’s disgruntlement. Whilst Rice would never hand in a transfer request, nor ‘force’ a move, we are aware the player would love to return to Chelsea someday to write another chapter in that story.

I understand Chelsea are willing to be patient on this deal, confident they will eventually get their man. This is supported by the fact Chelsea have never put in a formal bid, due to the fact they do not wish to pay the outrageous sum West Ham are demanding, they know a deal becomes more likely the longer Rice’s current deal (2024 expiration) runs down, also the fact they can loan a player like Saul or use Trevor Chalobah or Ethan Ampadu to fill the gap until a deal can be done.

Chelsea’s recent stance on defensive midfielders, accompanied by their willingness to do business with West Ham potentially with Kurt Zouma, shows this is a long-term play and one Chelsea are confident they can be patient on. I’d expect this one to turn up as the month’s progress, in anticipation Chelsea can pursue this harder next summer and perhaps finally put in that official bid for Declan Rice.

I will do another article on outgoing deals in the near future. With that said, as I maintained from the very first day of this transfer window, a lot of the incoming deals Chelsea will do, will depend on the outgoing business.

More here…

That’s it for now. Thank you everyone for your patience these past week or two, more importantly, thank you for your continued and overwhelming support. Until next time…

Written by Dan McCarthy - @MaccaSport / Instagram - Macca.Sport