Chelsea agree personal terms to sign £50m “superstar”

It’s been a good summer for Chelsea so far this year.

Enzo Maresca’s side demolished Paris Saint-Germain in the first final of the revamped Club World Cup, and have since beaten Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan with relative ease.

The Blues have also been busy off the pitch, bringing in a host of top-quality talents to bolster the squad and challenge for a place in the starting lineup.

Yet, with just under three weeks until the window slams shut, the West Londoners appear to be making the most of their time, having been linked with someone who has drawn comparisons to Rodrygo.

Chelsea target their own Rodrygo

As they are every year, Chelsea have been very active in the market so far this summer, and their new arrivals are already looking brilliant.

For example, Joao Pedro scored three goals in three games at the Club World Cup, while Liam Delap scored and produced an assist in his six games in America.

Add to them the exciting Jorrel Hato and Jamie Gittens, and it would be fair to say Maresca’s squad is looking far better than it did last year.

However, while plenty of teams would call it a day, the Conference League champions still want to add more talent to the squad, and are edging closer to a player once compared to Rodrygo.

At least that is according to a recent report from transfers expert Fabrizio Romano, who has reaffirmed Chelsea’s interest in Alejandro Garnacho.

In exciting news, the Italian journalist has revealed that the Blues have now reached a complete agreement on personal terms with the player and are advancing in club-to-club talks.

However, there is still disagreement over the price, with the Pensioners wanting to pay around £30m and Manchester United wanting closer to £50m.

It could be a complicated and costly transfer to get over the line, but given Garnacho’s ability and potential, it’s one worth pursuing, especially as he’s been compared to Rodrygo in the past.

How Garnacho compares to Rodrygo

In this instance, the comparison between Garnacho and Rodrygo stems from FBref, which analysed players in similar positions in the 23/24 Champions League season and concluded that the Real Madrid star was the ninth most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the United ace.

While that might sound hard to believe for some, we can gain a better understanding of how this conclusion was reached by taking a look at some of the metrics the pair ranked closely in.

These include things like goals per shot and shot on target, goal-creating actions, touches in the opposition’s penalty area, carries into the final third and more, all per 90.

These numbers help paint a picture of someone who might not be as dangerous as the Real star yet, but he clearly has a knack for getting the ball into dangerous areas, much like the Brazilian.

Away from the statistics, another trait the Madrid-born dynamo shares with the two-time Champions League winner is his positional versatility.

Since breaking through at Old Trafford, the future “superstar”, as journalist Liam Canning once dubbed him, has played in several positions, from attacking midfield to both wings and even up top on one occasion, which would make fitting him into Maresca’s side far easier.

Finally, while the comparison to a world-class player is certainly encouraging, it’s not the argument for why the Blues should be looking to sign the young Argentine, as you could also use his output from last year.

For example, despite being just 20 years old for the whole campaign, and playing in a historically terrible United side, he was still able to score 11 goals and provide ten assists in 58 appearances, which is not a bad return in the circumstances.

Ultimately, so long as the price remains reasonable, Chelsea should go out and get Garnacho, as he’s clearly got plenty of potential, and the fact he’s been compared to Rodrygo in the past is only further proof of that.