Chelsea sporadically tipped to sign another centre-back
Rumours of a potential new centre-back signing after Tosin Adarabioyo have died down in the last two months, but it was something which couldn’t be ruled out towards the beginning of the summer window.
Reliable transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, speaking in May, shared his belief that Chelsea could sign two centre-backs this summer, including Tosin, as current defender Trevoh Chalobah will need to be sold for FFP reasons.
Chalobah was left out of Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the USA, sparking outrage among sections of the fanbase and speculation that the 24-year-old is very much on Maresca’s list of players to be sold before summer deadline day.
| Chelsea’s best-performing players in the Premier League last season | |
|---|---|
| Player | Average match rating (WhoScored) |
| Cole Palmer | 7.48 |
| Conor Gallagher | 7.13 |
| Nicolas Jackson | 7.07 |
| Moises Caicedo | 6.85 |
| Noni Madueke | 6.84 |
He was probably our best defender in the last 10-15 games last season,” said Chelsea season ticket holder Bert Barrett to GOAL.
“It’s a joke they have signed Tosin to replace Chalobah, who is a better player and has been at Chelsea since a kid.”
Chelsea are apparently ready to sell Chalobah for around £25-30 million, despite his impressive performances under Mauricio Pochettino last season. While the versatile Cobham academy graduate is a boyhood supporter, his treatment by the club lately has prompted reports that Chalobah is now ready to leave Chelsea and open talks with other clubs.
Crystal Palace have been credited with an interest in Chalobah, as Newcastle United lodge repeated bids to sign their star centre-back Marc Guehi. If the latter departs Selhurst Park for St. James’, Chelsea’s outcasted defender could be an ideal replacement. However, the question still remains, who could replace the exit-bound Chalobah at Chelsea?
Chelsea make contact with Liverpool defender Joe Gomez
According to respected Chelsea journalist Simon Phillips, writing on his Substack, it is believed that Liverpool defender Joe Gomez has been on the radar of Stamford Bridge chiefs for a while.
The Englishman, who is said to command a price tag of around £34 million, could come in to succeed Chalobah if he does seal a move away. Indeed, Chelsea have already made contact with Gomez over joining from Liverpool, and the fact he shares Maresca’s agency makes a deal “pretty straightforward”.
“A Liverpool source has confirmed that Chelsea have now recently made contact with defender Joe Gomez about a potential move this summer,” Phillips said (via CaughtOffside).
“Chelsea have also reached out to the agents of the player to see if there would be any interest in the move, and there would be. At this point, it is Chelsea finding out the full financial conditions of any deal and whether they can make it happen or not. Nothing has yet advanced past that at the time of writing this, but we know how fast things can move.
“SPTC sources expect this would be a move dependent on Trevoh Chalobah and another centre back leaving. As you know, Chelsea have been looking at new centre backs for THIS window and as we exclusively reported on this site in July last year, Gomez has been on the Chelsea radar under the new ownership for quite some time now.
“He is also under the same agency as both Enzo Maresca and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, so any deal if Chelsea wanted to do it, is expected to be pretty straightforward.”
