Chelsea ready to offer six-year deal to £45m player, talks “now advancing”

Chelsea are potentially closing in on their next summer signing for Enzo Maresca after an already-busy transfer window.

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£50m Chelsea player in “advanced” talks to leave, could be done imminently

It would be a boost for BlueCo.

They’re expected to be one of the most active Premier League sides in terms of recruitment and player sales before deadline day on September 1, having already sealed a £30 million deal for Liam Delap whilst trying their hand at a host of other men.

Chelsea held talks with AC Milan over signing goalkeeper Mike Maignan before the pre-Club World Cup transfer deadline on June 10, but couldn’t quite find an agreement with the Rossoneri, prompting them to leave negotiations for now.

Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike was also a top target for Maresca’s side recently, and they again held negotiations with the Bundesliga side in an effort to acquire him before June 10.

However, Eintracht’s lofty £85 million asking price appears to be a major roadblock as things stand, even if Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg recently insisted that he could still be one to watch for Chelsea as we head later into the window.

Chelsea tried to sign Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens before the CWC deadline too, seeing three bids rejected for the 20-year-old, but talks have been ongoing ever since.

Reports suggest that talks have become much more positive between the clubs, and Chelsea are believed to be closer to signing Gittens despite their many failed offers earlier this month.

Chelsea ready six-year contract offer to Jamie Gittens

Now, as per TEAMtalk, Chelsea are ready to offer Gittens a six-year contract with the option of an additional season – and his signing could be done imminently.

The outlet reported yesterday afternoon that a deal may be struck in the ‘next 24 hours’, with Chelsea apparently “on the verge” of finally reaching an agreement for the Englishman, who’s bagged 12 goals and five assists in 49 appearances for Dortmund this season.

If Chelsea do get Gittens over the line, he won’t be able to feature for them at the CWC, even if Maresca can add new players to his squad thanks to a unique registration window open from today until July 3.

This is because Gittens has already featured for Dortmund at the tournament, so he’ll have to wait to make his Chelsea debut until after the CWC’s conclusion.

While the ex-Man City youngster is seen as a player with vast potential, there is an err of caution from critics surrounding this potential move, especially for a reported fee of around £45 million.

“I think it might be a slight worry given the [reported] fee that’s being discussed here, £45million,” said talkSPORT’s Olly Clink, when asked about Gittens falling down the pecking order at Dortmund recently.

“I know we live in inflated times, but I think you could argue with some of the transfers Chelsea have made in recent times that they have certainly overpaid. It will be another very long contract again as well for Gittens.

“With any player like this, there is potential that they have maybe a brief period where they’re fantastic, and it’s all very exciting, and they’ve got loads of potential, but we’ve already seen a few of those transfers go wrong for Chelsea already, and with these extremely long contracts it then becomes a little bit more difficult to get them off the books.”