It looks like Carney Chukwuemeka’s time as a Chelsea player is nearly over.
Back in 2022, Chelsea signed Carney Chukwuemeka as an extremely talented youngster from Aston Villa. The reality is that he’s had a tough few years at Stamford Bridge, largely caused by injury problems.
Fresh transfer reports claim that the 21-year-old attacking midfielder is now on the brink of joining Borussia Dortmund on a permanent basis, which is where he spent the second half of last season on loan.
Journalist Fabrizio Romano claims via X that German club Dortmund have agreed a deal to buy Chukwuemeka. Apparently, Chelsea will receive around €25m (£22m) for the sale and it includes a heavy sell-on clause.
🚨🟡⚫️ Carney Chukwuemeka to Borussia Dortmund, here we go! Deal done and plan confirmed.
Chelsea to receive fee around €25m with add-ons and heavy sell-on clause also included, key in the deal.
Anselmino (loan) and Carney (permanent) both will undergo medical on Monday. pic.twitter.com/zDZENPt8K2
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 24, 2025
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Chukwuemeka has been training with Chelsea’s bomb squad, which is made up of players waiting for their futures to be resolved. Finally, it looks like the Englishman will seal his move to the Bundesliga on a permanent basis.
Carney Chukwuemeka playing for Chelsea against Celtic in a pre-season friendly.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
What Carney Chukwuemeka said about his Chelsea future 18 months ago
If we rewind to January 2024, Chukwuemeka delivered a defiant message to claim he wants to carve out a successful career in West London. The midfield talent insisted that he could come good in Chelsea colours.
Chukwuemeka said via The Telegraph: “I just want to prove the critics wrong… It gives me more motivation to show everyone what I can do and prove to them that it was the right choice and that I will have a future at Chelsea.”
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Unfortunately, that has just not materialised for him.
Season Appearances
2024/25 5
2023/24 12
2022/23 15
Carney Chukwuemeka’s record for Chelsea
At the age of 21, he’s got plenty of time to rebuild his career and to fulfil his obvious potential as a complete midfielder. In fairness, he started to show glimpses during his loan spell at Dortmund that he was getting back to some form.
Even though Dortmund looked at re-signing Chukwuemeka on loan, it looks like they will commit to signing him permanently.
Carney Chukwuemeka playing for Chelsea against Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup.
Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
Carney Chukwuemeka has been eager to leave Chelsea
It’s concerning to hear that Chukwuemeka has been keen to leave Chelsea because he’s not happy with how he’s been treated by the club.
There has been a huge turnover of players at Stamford Bridge under this ownership recently, which means that Chukwuemeka joins a long list of individuals who have been cast aside. We certainly believe that the youngster had the drive and ability to make it at Chelsea, but they are running a pretty ruthless business.
The one concern we have is that targets could be put off joining such a brutal system, but it’s not put targets off just yet.