January 02, The Athletic UK Chelsea reporter Simon Johnson
Column titled – Fernandez, Bellingham, Mac Allister: What we’re hearing about Chelsea midfield targets
After clarifying Enzo’s news in the first part, TA parsed other potential Chelsea targets.
The future of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Bellingham will not be determined until the summer and Chelsea are fully aware they face an uphill battle if they are to sign him.
While they have not given up yet, there is a feeling within the club that Liverpool will be in the lead if the 19-year-old joins a Premier League club at the end of the season.
For Chelsea’s new boss, the battle for Enzo is not as intense as Bellingham, after all, Liverpool have been eyeing Bellingham for a long time.
One possible option is to strike a deal with Benfica this month for Enzo Fernandes, who will join Chelsea in the summer.
One of the reasons Chelsea won’t rush into anything is that they are in active talks with N’Golo Kante over a new contract.
The Frenchman’s future at the club has been confirmed, removing one uncertainty over next season.
However, sources linked to the senior player believe this will be Jorginho’s final season at Chelsea and if that turns out to be the case, Chelsea will clearly need a replacement.
The Italy international, whose contract expires at the end of the season, is aiming to return to Serie A five years after joining Chelsea from Napoli.
Although it should be noted that his agent Joao Santos recently stated that Chelsea offered the 31-year-old Jorginho a contract extension last month.
Chelsea have naturally considered other targets, such as West Ham’s Rice, but he is still expensive and, like Bellingham, can only be discussed in detail until next summer.
The lower-priced players Chelsea are looking at include Brighton’s Moises Caicedo and Alexis McAllister, as well as Southampton teenager Romeo Lavia, who was in the summer
There were inquiries about his future at the close of the window.
It has been suggested that another World Cup winner, McAllister, will cost Chelsea £60m, but the west London club value the 24-year-old at around £35m-£40m.
Chelsea have not ruled out a second attempt to sign Ajax midfielder Ederson Alvarez, 25, after failing to convince the Dutch club to sell the Mexico international ahead of the summer deadline.
However, convincing Ajax to cash in mid-season has not been easy.
Another factor is that Chelsea are also chasing players to improve their front line, which will obviously take money out of the midfield budget.
Chelsea are discussing several players at several clubs and these talks will continue.
But Chelsea’s new boss won’t let anyone try to take advantage of them, or manipulate them into something they don’t think is right.
Chelsea are keen to exercise discipline in the transfer market, whether that means getting, waiting or forgoing a deal.
As the most senior Chelsea follower, SJ said meaningfully at the end of the article: Chelsea will only conduct transfer operations in their own way, and they are obviously serious.