Todd Boehly is having a very busy first window as Chelsea’s owner. In this piece I will be going through each of Thomas Tuchel’s transfer targets in each area of the pitch and detailing the latest from reliable reports aswell as adding information from our own sources.
Defence : Wesley Fofana
Chelsea’s number 1 priority full stop regardless of the other positions we are negotiating in is the constant pursuit of Wesley Fofana. Taking information gathered from the best sources, the current situation is that Chelsea have had 2 bids turned down. (in the region of £50-60m, with some reports stating the second was £70m) and the club are now preparing the 3rd bid which is expected to be submitted this week.
Why the wait for the third bid?
Simply put, Chelsea hope that this bid will be the final one and there will be no need for anymore back and forth, ChelseaFC365 has been told Chelsea do not want to spend a record fee on Fofana, at-least not on the base fee. Intermediaries continued to work on the deal over the weekend of Saturday 13th August.
It’s also been constantly stressed to us here at ChelseaFC365 that in such deals, payment terms will be absolutely key, let’s take Chelsea’s pursuit of Raphinha for example. Chelsea bid a total package of £55m and the payment structure had really “Good terms” with Fabrizio Romano stating that Chelsea offered a big amount straight away to be made available to Leeds, this is uncommon in football with big deals as usually, the payments are staggered and clubs aren’t able to get the full amount of the agreed sale price straight away. ChelseaFC365 was told that the desire from Todd Boehly in this specific negotiation impressed Leeds.
In a deal which could break the world record for a defender with or without add ons – Todd Boehly wants to make sure that when the 3rd bid is submitted, it gets accepted. Good payment terms, a price that Leicester will not hesitate over and a well fought out negotiation to show that Chelsea are not desperate meaning therefore Leicester do not sense panic from Chelsea which could lead to them keep upping the price. One final thing to note, Fofana IS pushing and Chelsea hope this could knock down the final value, though unlikely.
Midfield : Frenkie De Jong? Other potential targets? Time to panic for Chelsea?
First things first, Chelsea are waiting for confirmation of how long N’Golo Kante will be out for after picking up a hamstring injury last weekend. Frenkie De Jong’s situation is still the same. Chelsea are prepared to pay what Barcelona want tomorrow morning if they could, but Frenkie wants to stay and Barcelona are yet to tell him he has to leave the club.
One source from Barcelona tells ChelseaFC365 that Barcelona are weighing up potential sales for a bid for Bernardo Silva, and if these do not come to fruition, it’s likely they will try and push Frenkie out as even though Xavi likes him, he really wants Bernardo Silva at Barcelona. The ideal situation will be to have both and Barcelona are working to try and make this happen. Operation De Jong to Chelsea in standby for now.
James Ward Prowse was mentioned to me a couple of months ago, but nothing seems to have come to fruition there.
Attack : Aubameyang, Gordon, Ronaldo etc.
I think this is the hardest one to get information on at the moment even for the most reliable journalists. No doubt Tuchel will have other names on his ST list, but he really wants Aubameyang and Chelsea are expected to bid in the region of £15-18m this week. Barcelona are holding out for £21m but Chelsea do not want to pay this, per multiple reposts.
Fabrizio Romano said this evening Chelsea have a new round of talks scheduled this week to understand wage demands etc. This is a smart move from Boehly, we often talk about him learning on the job and he certainly is, instead of submitting bids to Barcelona, he wants clarity from the player first and for them to be on board and open to moving to Chelsea.
Anthony Gordon is one that came up very recently out of nowhere, Chelsea have had 2 bids turned down of £40m and £45m. ChelseaFC365 understands this would be a FORWARD signing, Tuchel really rates his versatility on both flanks aswell as his intense pressing. There is a feeling inside Chelsea that Gordon will be able to increase his output by playing in a more expansive team like Chelsea’s and would only get better surrounded by better players including the likes of his English team mates Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling.
Tuchel’s unpredictability in tactics could see Gordon end up play RWB off the ball in a 4 at the back system however he would be brought in to add to the attacking set up as we continue to hear rumours of Hakim Ziyech leaving aswell as Hudson Odoi. It does seem a bit odd to me that Chelsea would sanction such a price for a bench player, you’d see the main front 3 being Sterling, Kai / Auba and Mount, leaving Gordon on the bench but we will come onto more about the formation change potentially at the end of the article.
What about Ronaldo and other attackers?
Chelsea insider Nathan Gissing told me on Laurenz Vescoli’s YouTube channel a couple of weeks ago that Chelsea are still considering the signing of Ronaldo. Todd Boehly and Behdad think it would be an amazing market opportunity whilst also adding invaluable experience and quality however Tuchel, as reported widely, has rejected this possibility, as of now.
Although no huge breaking report has come out on Zaha, I feel like Tuchel would like the fact that he can play LW and ST similarly to how Timo Werner did for Chelsea, I could see him being a big fan of versatility across his front line, it adds unpredictability to opposition managers and their planning for facing Chelsea.
Adama Traore is still on a list and is considered a cheap last minute potential buy, although has dropped down significantly with Chelsea pursuing other options.
One last thing, I get asked all the time in Direct messages if I think Tuchel will change formation to a 4 eventually and the answer is YES, he will, in fact, his staff have held plenty of discussions on it but I can only imagine they aren’t in full agreement yet in terms of it mutually benefiting the whole squad more than the 3. One thing Chelsea fans don’t realise and is constantly stressed to me from more than one source is the fact that he really values his coaching staff’s opinions, often going back and forth over minor details of one player’s attributes and vice versa.
Starting Formation doesn’t matter a whole lot to me personally, the ability to adapt depending on the situation within a game matters more, and Tuchel has shown this throughout his time at Chelsea already, switching between 3 and 4 and 4 and 3, and I expect this to continue.
