Chelsea to continue January transfer blitz as Real Madrid man and Cody Gakpo partner targeted amid £100m claims
Chelsea have been backed to spend a whopping £100million more in the January transfer window, with a Real Madrid player and one of Cody Gakpo’s former PSV team-mates in their sights.
Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly has already sanctioned big spending this month, with the Blues making David Datro Fofana their first winter arrival. He joined in a £10.6m deal, according to Fabrizio Romano, and was soon followed to Stamford Bridge by a defender.
Chelsea added centre-half Benoit Badiashile to their ranks on January 5. They paid Monaco £35m to sign him on a big contract lasting until June 2030.
After that, Boehly allowed Graham Potter to spend a further £18m to bring in young Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos. Potter then strengthened his attacking ranks by capturing Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid. Chelsea paid the Spanish side a £9.7m loan fee for the striker.
And the most recent arrival at Chelsea is the most expensive of the lot. On Sunday, they snared Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk in a deal which could rise to £89m.
Some would think Chelsea were stopping there, but that simply is not in Boehly’s thoughts. He is gunning for more new signings to give Potter the best possible chance of success at Chelsea.
And according to Football Insider, Potter is free to spend another £100m this month to bring in more new players. It is unclear how the club will work around Financial Fair Play regulations, but clearly some current stars need to be sold to offset the losses.
One player who may yet arrive in west London this month is PSV winger Noni Madueke. The England U21 starlet spent time in Crystal Palace and Tottenham’s academies before moving to the Netherlands in 2018.
Chelsea want former Spurs academy player
He gradually rose through the ranks at PSV and is now an important first-team player there. He operated alongside Gakpo on several occasions, before his move to Liverpool recently.
As per ESPN, Chelsea have made a €30m (£26.6m) bid for Madueke in recent days. That is despite them recently being told by PSV that Madueke is not for sale.
Potter has apparently been tracking the wide man ‘for some time’. PSV boss Ruud van Nistelrooy would ideally like to keep Madueke, especially after losing Gakpo to Liverpool. But the manager knows Madueke will leave if a major bid comes in, and this is something Chelsea are likely to do.
The 20-year-old could be followed to Chelsea by a seventh winter signing, too. The Telegraph claim Chelsea hold an interest in capturing young Real Madrid defender Rafa Marin.
After losing Antonio Rudiger to the La Liga giants in summer 2022, getting Marin to England would be a good form of transfer revenge. The centre-back, who can also play as a left-back, is highly rated at Real.
Blues could sign Real Madrid talent for under £10m
Marin’s contract with Los Blancos expires at the end of the season. As such, Real may be forced into selling him to Chelsea in a cut-price deal this month. The report claims an offer between £5m and £10m should do the trick.
Boehly is clearly doing all he can to ensure Chelsea can turn their fortunes around immediately, as well as making the future look bright. He has signed players with top-flight experience who also have their best years ahead of them.
But as mentioned earlier, it surely will not be long before FFP get involved. Chelsea are spending at an alarming rate and this could see them pass the threshold.
Another potential problem for Potter is getting the squad to successfully work together. He may end up with too many players on his hands, which would result in some of them becoming frustrated about their lack of game time.
Meanwhile, a Chelsea player could end up going to a London rival as a bid is being prepared, according to reports.
