Chelsea have spent heavily in the January transfer window and this could see a valuable attacker leave Stamford Bridge, according to reports.
Chelsea have signed six players already this month. They are David Datro Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, Andrey Santos, Joao Felix, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Noni Madueke. The most expensive of those signings was Mudryk, who arrived for an initial £62million that could rise to £89m.
How much Chelsea have spent in total depends on which source is used. If you go through Sky Sports, then Blues chairman Todd Boehly has sanctioned around £190m in spending.
Despite improving several areas of Graham Potter’s squad, Boehly is not showing any signs of slowing down. He is rivalling the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal for Moises Caicedo of Brighton.
Boehly is also putting Tottenham under pressure in their talks to sign Sporting Lisbon right-back Pedro Porro. If Spurs fail to meet Sporting’s demands, then Chelsea are ready and waiting to pounce.
Chelsea will surely move up the Premier League table now they have brought in so many good young players. But they do need to offload a few existing stars to avoid getting in trouble with Financial Fair Play.
Reports have previously suggested winger Raheem Sterling could be sold. And Kai Havertz has now joined the Englishman in being tipped to depart Chelsea.
According to German journalist Florian Plettenberg, Havertz could be put up for sale at €60m (£53m) later this year.
Chelsea man backed to complete Bundesliga return
“The fees Chelsea are spending are incredible and a lot of clubs in Germany can only dream of having this capability. But we don’t have these sorts of numbers of here,” the reporter said during an appearance on the Sky Sports Transfer Show.
“Chelsea’s spending is very much a headline over here because it can have an indirect impact on German clubs.
“When you consider the salaries and the contract durations, the feeling is that Chelsea will be a big player in the summer market over here. Thinking of Kai Havertz, he could be a player who doesn’t have faith in the squad at Chelsea and could make another step.
“I’ve heard that Kai is very happy with the Chelsea boss [Potter] at this stage and he’s very ambitious but I’ve heard there could be a transfer in the summer for around €60m. We’ll have to see where he fits into the new Chelsea. But we’re also hearing that Bayern Munich are not interested in signing him.”
Kai Havertz likes manager but has squad concerns
It is interesting to hear what Plettenberg has to say about Havertz. It sounds like he is a fan of Potter. But he is not yet convinced on how the Chelsea squad will gel and come together.
The 23-year-old may feel his place in the Chelsea side is under threat due to the new arrivals, particularly Joao Felix.
As Plettenberg states, German clubs do not have as much spending power as those in England. As such, only a few of them would be able to meet Chelsea’s £53m asking price for Havertz.
Bayern certainly have the necessary funds, though they do not want to land Havertz right now. As such, the attacker may have to wait for Borussia Dortmund to make their move before he can go back to the Bundesliga.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have been ruled out of the race to sign a world-class forward, with Man Utd instead urged to bid £100m for him.