Chelsea have a “new attacking priority” for manager Enzo Maresca as talks begin with his club, and it is believed the man in question is also very keen on joining.
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Eddie Howe’s side are now looking into him.
Maresca recently pinpointed the attack as his next main area of improvement, regardless of their near-£150 million triple deal for Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Joao Pedro, mainly due to Chelsea’s struggles against the low block last term (Simon Phillips).
It’s practically indisputable that Maresca’s side will come up against sides set up to defend that way time and time again next season.
Their lower-profile Premier League opponents are now perhaps even more wary of Chelsea’s attacking talent, following impressive Club World Cup and Conference League triumphs in the last few months, which sent a real statement of intent to the rest of England that they could challenge for the title next season.
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Chelsea’s best performers in the Premier League last season |
Average match rating |
|---|---|
|
Cole Palmer |
7.33 |
|
Moises Caicedo |
7.02 |
|
Enzo Fernández |
6.95 |
|
Nicolas Jackson |
6.88 |
|
Noni Madueke |
6.82 |
|
via WhoScored |
|
Taking this into account, Chelsea are believed to be in the market for another central attacking midfielder, even amid their need to trim Maresca’s bloated squad after a recent settlement with UEFA (Kaveh Solhekol).
Chelsea held talks with Crystal Palace playmaker Eberechi Eze last week in their pursuit of more final-third creativity, but according to more recent reports, RB Leipzig sensation Xavi Simons is now moving ahead of him in the transfer target pecking order.
The Netherlands international is prepared to leave Leipzig this summer, despite only just joining the Germans on a permanent deal in January after one and a half seasons on loan, and super agent Ali Barat is expected to help Simons facilitate a move away.
As per Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Chelsea are the most concrete option for him, and talks have already been held with the player’s representatives amid “serious” interest from Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea open talks with RB Leipzig over signing Xavi Simons
Now, reporter Simon Phillips has a pretty encouraging update on the situation, sharing further news via his Substack.
Chelsea have now opened club-to-club talks with Leipzig, which happened on Monday this week, and the 22-year-old is apparently pretty eager to join Maresca’s side, who’ve already secured the player ‘buy-in’.
What’s more, despite reports to the contrary that he’s valued at around £65 million, BlueCo could actually end up striking a deal for Simons closer to the £40 million mark.
“SPTC sources are now hearing that Chelsea opened talks with RB Leipzig regarding signing Simons on Monday this week,” wrote Phillips.
“Talks on the player side have already happened and Chelsea have the player buy in. As we reported earlier this week, Simons is keen on joining Chelsea in more of our news that has since been backed up by other big sources out there now.
“Personal terms are not expected to be an issue, and now Chelsea are speaking to the Bundesliga to understand what sort of fee they will be looking for. We have not yet heard their asking price for Simons, but it is not expected to be as high as what has been reported out there at the moment, which is £65m. We expect it to be under £50m and perhaps even closer to £40m. Let’s see after these talks how much it will cost for Chelsea to sign Simons.”
Simons has been a revelation at Leipzig over the past two seasons – bagging 21 goals and 23 assists in total for them – and this form even prompted the club to make him their highest-ever paid player.
Unlike Eze (27), the former PSG starlet has more time on his side as well, with his age suiting BlueCo’s typical transfer policy down to the ground.
