Chelsea line up mammoth signing of midfielder better than £115m man Caicedo

Chelsea are putting the pieces in place to sign a Premier League midfielder rated even higher than Moises Caicedo, while TEAMtalk can confirm the club’s plans regarding Robert Sanchez and the goalkeeping department.

Chelsea are always keen to add the next best talent to their squad and the club harbour ambitions of bringing in yet another midfielder to strengthen their title credentials over the coming seasons.

The Blues aren’t looking solely at strikers right now and we can reveal options in the middle of the park have been explored this month too.

Sources have stated that Brighton midfielder, Carlos Baleba, is of real interest to Enzo Maresca’s side and they are monitoring him closely for a summer move.

Sources have also stated Chelsea even sounded out Brighton to ascertain Baleba’s availability and transfer valuation earlier in January.

There is zero chance of Chelsea signing Balela before the February 3 deadline without massively overpaying for his services.

However, that is not beyond this Chelsea board who have shown they will spend huge amounts when fixated on a target.

The Blues board also have previous history of doing exactly that with Brighton when sanctioning the British record £115m (add-ons included) signing of Moises Caciedo.

Baleba would demand a mammoth fee and Brighton value the 21-year-old extremely highly, with sources believing he has more to offer from an attacking and all-around standpoint than the more defensive-minded Caicedo.

Chelsea are not alone in their interest in Baleba and there is serious interest mounting from Italy specifically, as well as around Europe.

Baleba is contracted until the summer of 2028 and there is a club option for a further year within the terms.

That puts Brighton in a incredibly strong position and as we have seen previously, they do not budge easily from the lofty valuations they place on their players.

Chelsea stance on Robert Sanchez, new goalkeeper signing

Perhaps the position that’s come under the most scrutiny at Stamford Bridge this season is between the sticks.

Robert Sanchez – who’s committed five errors directly leading to goals in the Premier League this season – is actively costing Chelsea points.

However, Enzo Maresca has publicly endorsed the under-fire Spaniard and we can confirm Chelsea are backing Sanchez and will not strengthen in the goalkeeping department before Monday’s deadline.

Elsewhere, The Blues are among five Premier League sides chasing Bayern Munich’s Mathys Tel. Our exclusive update on Chelsea’s ongoing pursuit of the player can be found here.

However, Tottenham have stolen a march on them, with multiple sources confirming they’ve agreed to a deal with Bayern for the forward.

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