EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JULY 17: Pep Chavarria of Rayo Vallecano during the pre-season friendly match between Heart of Midlothian and Rayo Vallecano at Tynecastle Park on July 17, 2026 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)
According to a Fabrizio Romano “exclusive”, Chelsea have submitted a new bid for Rayo Vallecano left back Pep Chavarría yesterday. The two teams have been in talks for about a month now over the 28-year-old, with Chelsea initially meeting Rayo’s €15m asking price, but the La Liga side then moving the goalposts and wanting the Blues to pay the full release clause instead. That release clause may be as much as €45m now.
While it’s not specified what our new and improved bid may be, it’s presumably not anywhere near €45m. At least I sure hope it’s not anywhere near that. Certainly not in a market where Marc Cucurella goes for €60m. A more reasonable number may be €25m — it’s on the edge of reason — which some reports also claim acceptable to Rayo.
Their willingness to deal may be being helped by some antics from Chavarría, who may or may not have gone briefly on strike (or was dealing with an injury) earlier in the week. He was back in training on Friday, but was not in the squad at all for yesterday’s friendly against Charleroi (contrary to reported expectations) and had also not featured against either Feyenoord or Hearts.
Meanwhile for Chelsea, Jorrel Hato is the only recognized left back in the first-team squad at the moment, with Academy youngster Landon Emenalo also seeing minutes in preseason. While I don’t necessarily mind that combination for the rest of the season (even in a back-three setup), Chavarría is presumably being targeted to be the starter at that position instead.