It’s been an exhausting but brilliant summer for Chelsea so far this year.
On top of blowing everyone away at the Club World Cup and coming home as World Champions, the Blues have been as busy as ever in the transfer market.
The likes of Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens and Liam Delap have all come in to bolster Enzo Maresca’s attacking options, while Jorrel Hato has finally made his way to the big time and looks destined for greatness.
However, even with all the business they’ve already conducted, there are no signs of the West Londoners slowing down anytime soon.
In fact, they now look dead set on signing Alejandro Garnacho and Xavi Simons, although the pair will have to hit the ground running to see their valuations get anywhere near one of their soon-to-be teammates.
Why Chelsea want to sign Garnacho & Simons
It was confirmed by transfers expert Fabrizio Romano early yesterday morning that Chelsea have agreed personal terms with Garnacho and that they’re also looking to sign Simons at some point before the window slams shut.
Based on reports from earlier in the window, it looks like the former could end up costing the club at least £40m, while the latter appears to have a price tag of around £61m, taking the overall price of the pair to £101m.
It’s undoubtedly a lot of money to spend on two young players, but once you look past the enormous sums of money, it’s not hard to see why the Conference League champions want to add them both to their squad.
For example, despite being 20 years old for the entire campaign, and playing for a historically terrible Manchester United side, the Argentine international managed to rack up a tally of 11 goals and ten assists in 58 appearances, totalling 3,568 minutes – an average of a goal involvement every 2.76 games, or every 169.90 minutes.
The RB Leipzig star did even better than that, scoring 11 goals and providing eight assists in 33 games, totalling just 2763 minutes, which comes out to a sensational average of a goal involvement every 1.73 games, or every 144 minutes.
On top of their brilliant output, both players are positively versatile and can thrive in attacking midfield or out on the wing, which would give Maresca so many tactical options ahead of games next season.
Overall, it’s easy to see why Chelsea want to sign Simons and Garnacho and why they could cost so much, but even then, they’d have to hit the ground running to see their valuations even get close to someone already in the Blues’ squad.
The Chelsea star worth millions more than Simons & Garnacho
While Chelsea have certainly made their fair share of mistakes in the transfer market over the last few years, and received plenty of criticism for doing so, they’ve now got a squad bursting with incredible players, none more so than Cole Palmer.
Yes, it should come as no surprise that the star in question is the mercurial Englishman, as he’s undoubtedly been one of the best players in the entire Premier League since moving to Stamford Bridge two years ago.
His consistently sensational displays have seen his valuation soar as well, with the CIES Football Observatory pricing him at up to €157m, which comes out to £136m, or £35m more than Simons and Garnacho could cost combined.
While that is an outrageous number to place on a 23-year-old’s head, it would be hard to say he hasn’t earned it over the last couple of campaigns.
For example, in his first season with the West Londoners, the “exceptional” talent, as Pep Guardiola dubbed him, scored 25 goals and provided 15 assists in 45 appearances, totalling 3613 minutes.
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Palmer vs Garnacho and Simons in 24/25 |
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|---|---|---|---|
|
Players |
|||
|
Appearances |
52 |
33 |
58 |
|
Minutes |
4247′ |
2763′ |
3568′ |
|
Goals |
18 |
11 |
11 |
|
Assists |
14 |
8 |
10 |
|
Goal Involvements per Match |
0.61 |
0.57 |
0.36 |
|
Minutes per Goal Involvements |
132.71′ |
144′ |
169.90′ |
|
All Stats via Transfermarkt |
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That comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.12 games, or every 90.32 minutes, and he did almost as well last season.
In 52 appearances, totalling 4247 minutes, the game-changing international scored 18 goals and provided 14 assists, which came out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.62 games, or every 132.71 minutes.
Ultimately, while Simons and Garnacho will be great additions to this Chelsea team, we don’t think they’ll ever quite see their valuations rival Palmer’s.
