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Maresca needs a winger | AFP via Getty Images
Chelsea are said to be preparing to make a fresh run at one of their summer transfer targets.
Chelsea are said to be ready to continue their transfer attempts despite the early special summer transfer window closing. The early window closed on June 10, and there won’t be a chance for clubs to add to their squads again until later in the month.
But deals will continue to take place, of course, they just won’t be made official until the window opens. Chelsea need a number of signings this summer, hoping to get closer to the title-chasing teams and to set up a good run in the Champions League next season. Enzo Maresca has already be handed a new striker in Liam Delap, but it looks as if he wants another, while a goalkeeper, centre-back and winger will be the other priorities this summer.
Top-level players in those positions are not easy to find, though, and Chelsea have already found that this summer, struggling to agree a deal for their priority winger signing. The Blues tried to sign Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund in the early window, but they were not able to secure a deal for the 20-year-old, coming up short of Dortmund’s valuation.
But while a deal wasn’t done ahead of the early window closing, there is hope of a deal being done in the coming weeks. Dortmund chief Sebastian Kehl admitted this week: “In the end, we didn’t come to an agreement on Jamie because we have different ideas about the player’s current value. But the talks were very, very respectful. We have been in very good dialogue with Chelsea for many years.
"And yet we have a different point of view and are happy that Jamie will now be part of our team at the Club World Cup and are delighted that he is staying. I’m not responsible for the late offer. But of course I still have to deal with it and that’s what we’ve done. Let’s see how things develop in the future."
Fresh approach
Chelsea will have been encouraged by that update, and Fabrizio Romano is now reporting that a fresh bid could be on its way. “Sources confirm that Chelsea are prepared to return in negotiations with Borussia Dortmund soon to re-discuss terms and try to reach an agreement, their plans include Bynoe-Gittens and a new proposal could be on the table already in the next days,” Romano told Give Me Sport.
Chelsea are said to have bid £29.6million for Gittens initially, and a second bid was also said to have been rejected. Reports have claimed that Dortmund want as much as £55m for their talented young winger and that they are not willing to budge on that figure. If those reports are accurate, the two clubs are some way apart on their valuations, potentially making a deal difficult.
But Gittens is said to be keen on the move, and so there is hope for Chelsea to get the job done by the end of the summer, and the pressure will be on due to the lack of top-level wingers available this summer, and especially for a close to reasonable price.
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