Chelsea are expected to spend big on reinforcements this summer
Champions League hopefuls Chelsea have traditionally been one of the busiest spenders in English football and they show no signs of slowing down this summer after already confirming the future signings of Estevao Willian from Palmeria, Mike Penders from Genk and exciting Portuguese duo Geovany Quenda and Dario Essugo from Sporting Lisbon ahead of the start of the window on 1 June.
The young quartet all arrive to help add fresh excitement to a young Chelsea team that’s already jam-packed with talent ahead of the Club World Cup - and Enzo Maresca will hope that he can unleash as much of this young talent as possible into the Champions League next season.
As it stands, Chelsea’s fate is undecided after a costly Nicolas Jackson red card and a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United. But the Blues still enter the final two matches with their destiny in their own hands as they take on Manchester United and fellow European hopefuls Nottingham Forest in a nail-biting end to the campaign.
The Italian will hope to end his debut campaign on a high and get his hands on the first trophy of the Todd Boehly era as the capital side go head to head with Real Betis in the Conference League final.
Chelsea added 11 players to their squad during the last summer transfer window while also making plenty of headlines in terms of outgoings. But what can we expect this time around? We asked AI - and here’s what it had to say.
AI backs Chelsea to sign talented teenage defender
Chelsea are expected to be in the market for defensive reinforcements at centre back to provide further competition to both Levi Colwill and the resurgent Trevoh Chalobah. Former Leicester City prodigy Wesley Fofana has struggled with injuries since arriving in 2022 while the future of Axel Diasi is uncertain after his loan move to Aston Villa. Meanwhile, Tosin Adarabioyo, who was signed as a free agent from Fulham, has struggled to hit the ground running this term. Elswhere, Benoit Badiashile has also suffered from a nightmare season on the injury front.
AI claims Chelsea will target a young and up and coming star in 18-year-old Ajax wonderkid Jorell Hato. He already has six caps for the Netherlands and has scored two and registered six assists for Ajax in 29 games this term. He’s also capable of playing either as a centre back or a left-back to add valuable versatility to the back-line ahead of potentially an eight-game League Phase campaign in Europe’s elite competition.
A dream Enzo Maresca reunion
Elsewhere, AI claims head of recruitment Joe Shields will do everything he can to spark a reunion between Enzo Maresca and Aston Villa playmaker Morgan Rogers.
Maresca managed the former Middlesbrough play-maker during his time as Manchester City youth coach and is known to be a huge admirer of the talented young England international, who has scored eight goals and registered nine assists in the league this season.
Chelsea are also predicted to splash the cash on 33-goal forward Victor Osimhen once he returns to Napoli after a stellar season in Turkey, while 22-year-old forward Liam Delap is available for £30m this summer and could be snapped up from Ipswich after his relegation at Portman Road. He too worked with Maresca at Manchester City as a youngster before leaving the Etihad Stadium.
Finally, AI predicts that Chelsea will make a move for RB Leipzig superstar Xavi Simons, although it’s not quite clear how they’ll be able to fit Simons, Rogers and Cole Palmer into the same attacking team with the trio all preferring to play in a central attacking midfield role.
Continue Reading