Chelsea have been linked with a transfer bid for a rising young star of Dutch football - but will they win the race to sign him in January?
Few young players in Europe are seeing their star rise quite as quickly as Feyenoord midfielder Gjivai Zechiël this season. The 22-year-old has started the season in spectacular form, earned his first call-up to the senior Netherlands squad, and is now on the radar of a number of elite clubs – including Chelsea, according to new reports.
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Chelsea are expected to try and sign a new midfielder in January after a deal for Monaco’s Lamine Camara collapsed on deadline day, and a new report from TEAMtalk claims that Zechiël is among the options under consideration as the Blues cast around for a long-term replacement for the departed Enzo Fernández. So just how good is Zechiël, and will Chelsea win the race to sign the youngster this winter?
Why Gijvai Zechiël is on Chelsea’s radar ahead of the January transfer window
Feyenoord's Gijvai Zechiël has enjoyed a spectacular start to the Eredivise seasonplaceholder image
Feyenoord's Gijvai Zechiël has enjoyed a spectacular start to the Eredivise season | Getty Images
Zechiël’s rise to the Dutch national side, for whom he could make his debut during the extended international break, has been rapid, and his burgeoning reputation was built on the back of a successful loan spell with Utrecht last season and a sensational spell of form to kick-start the new campaign.
A box-to-box midfielder by trade, albeit one who spends more time bursting into the opposing penalty area than most players who match that description, Zechiël scored eight goals and provided eight assists during the 2025/26 season at Utrecht and is on course to comfortably exceed those totals already this year – he’s scored five and provided four more in the space of just eight matches back at Feyenoord.
A genuine all-rounder with seemingly boundless energy and a quick burst of acceleration, Zechiël came through the ranks with two of the Netherlands’ best-named youth teams – Swift Boys and XerxesDZB – before spending time with Sparta Rotterdam, eventually moving to Feyenoord in 2018 and making his debut in 2023. It wasn’t until he moved to Utrecht that he really blossomed, however.
Tenacious off the ball, the £26m-rated Zechiël presses hard off the ball and has demonstrated good timing in the tackle, but it’s going forward that he’s really shone so far – he’s both a dynamic dribbler and a sharp passer who has developed into both a genuine playmaker and, increasingly, a goalscorer.
His recent scoring form may be difficult to maintain – his five Eredivisie goals have come from just 2.12xG – but the composure with which he has taken his chances and the technique he has demonstrated when bursting into the box from deeper areas suggest a player who has the potential to be a menace at the top level as well as a useful defensive asset.
The youngster, who scored four goals in 10 appearances for the Netherlands Under-21s before getting his first senior call-up, still has to prove that his recent form isn’t simply a remarkable purple patch, and also that he can cut it against the best teams – while he acquitted himself better than most of his colleagues in a recent 5-1 Champions League defeat to Barcelona, all of his goals and assists so far have come against the lesser lights of the Eredivisie.
His first caps for the Netherlands in the Nations League may give us a better insight into whether he’ll look quite so potent at the very highest level, or whether there are any reasons to believe he might struggle to make a step up to a side like Chelsea. One can certainly expect quite a few scouts to be in attendance.
Will Chelsea sign Zechiël this January?
Zechiël (right) in action against Barcelona at the Camp Nouplaceholder image
Zechiël (right) in action against Barcelona at the Camp Nou | Getty Images
TEAMtalk allege that Chelsea are among the clubs monitoring Zechiël’s progress between now and January, but they certainly aren’t alone – Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest are all mentioned as potential suitors, and there will no doubt be plenty of interest from elsewhere in Europe too.
Chelsea’s need for a new midfielder is especially sharp however, after they failed to replace Fernández in the wake of the Argentine’s move to Manchester City. It’s unlikely that they go through the winter without signing someone, and Zechiël appears to be among the potential options.
Not that the young Dutchman will be the only player they monitor. Sources suggest that they aren’t likely to be back in for Camara after his move to Stamford Bridge broke down at the start of September, but Roma’s Manu Koné, Bournemouth’s Alex Scott and Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton are all being tracked too. Zechiël will have to be at his best to become the first choice.
He may at least be more affordable in the middle of the season that some of the other players being looked at, although Feyenoord have protected their investment in Zechiël with a relatively lengthy contract – Zechiël is tied down until 2029 after extending his current deal by a year just last week.
That was only a half-commitment, however, a pay increase which protected Feyenoord while acknowledging that he’s likely to be in the frame for a big move sooner rather than later. We don’t yet have a clear picture of how much Feyenoord might demand for Zechiël, but it’s reasonable to assume that they anticipate his departure in the next year or so.
Whether or not he’s available in January will depend on a number of factors, not least Feyenoord’s form and ambitions for the second half of the season. Right now, it’s unclear how easy it would be for Chelsea – or any of Zechiël’s other suitors – to prise him away.
He’ll have to maintain his form for a few more months to become a serious consideration and right now it’s likely that the Blues would prefer to sign a more proven player like Scott or Koné if they can – but Zechiël has played well enough of late to put himself in the frame, and it will be interesting to see whether he can keep it up for long enough to make himself a more appealing option than the players who are likely ahead of him right now. Given how well he’s acquitted himself over the last year or so, it may be unwise to bet against it.