£17m ace nearing Chelsea exit after Madueke, it’d free up space for Ekitike

As everyone expected it to be, this summer has been nothing short of a whirlwind for Chelsea.

Alongside their incredible performances at the Club World Cup, which they are a game away from winning, the Blues have been as busy as ever in the transfer window.

The likes of Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens have all joined Enzo Maresca’s side before preseason has even begun, and it looks like they might want to add one more forward to the mix in Hugo Ekitiké.

The French dynamo has been linked with the West Londoners for quite some time this summer, and it looks like the club might be making another sale to free up funds for his £85m price tag, and no, it’s not Noni Madueke.

Why Chelsea want Ekitike

It might sound rather simplistic, and it probably is, but it’s undeniable that one of, if not the main reason Chelsea want to sign Ekitike this summer is his output.

For example, in 48 appearances last season, totalling 3644 minutes, the former Paris Saint-Germain prospect scored a mammoth 22 goals and provided 12 assists to boot.

That means the 23-year-old averaged a goal involvement every 1.41 games, or every 107.17 minutes, which is the sort of productivity that could fire Maresca’s men up the table.

On top of his brilliant ability to score and assist goals, the “next Mbappé,” as journalist Graeme Bailey once dubbed him, also has some impressive underlying numbers to his name.

For example, FBref ranks him in the top 4% of forwards in Europe’s top five leagues for non-penalty expected goals plus assists, progressive carries and successful take-ons, all per 90.

Overall, Ekitike looks to be a complete and seriously dangerous forward who’d undoubtedly improve Chelsea, but due to his massive price tag, the club might have to make some sales before signing him.

Fortunately, that seems to be what they are doing, as, alongside Madueke, one of their attackers is nearing the exit.

The Chelsea star set to leave

The big exit story regarding Chelsea over the last week or so has undoubtedly been that of Madueke’s.

After all, it is yet another example of Arsenal buying a player the club do not mind losing, and for a massive fee of around £52m.

However, while the Englishman has understandably caught all the headlines, he’s not the only attacker who looks set to leave.

At least, not according to a recent report from Portugal that has claimed João Félix is nearing a return to his former club Benfica.

The report has revealed that following positive talks with the player and his camp, the Liga Nos giants are working on a deal to bring him back to Lisbon on a permanent deal.

The final price the Blues will receive for the player is being kept under wraps per the story, but some reports suggest it could be around €20m – £17m.

Although that isn’t a lot, removing his £130k-per-week wages will help the signing of new talents like Ekitkie.

The former Atlético Madrid ace only joined the West Londoners for £45m last summer, but following an underwhelming first half of the campaign in which he produced nine goal involvements in 20 games – four of which came in the Conference League – he was sent to AC Milan on loan.

Unfortunately, the Viseu-born ace struggled to make much of an impact at the San Siro as well, and ended his stint there with just four goal involvements in 21 games.

Ultimately, it is a shame that it hasn’t worked out for the Portuguese international, but this deal feels like the right move for all parties involved.

He gets the chance to reignite his career, Benfica get their hands on someone who could still be special, and Chelsea can recover some money to spend elsewhere.

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It would be great business for Chelsea.