Chelsea ‘ready’ to submit £75m summer bid for ANOTHER Brighton superstar

Harry Watkinson 16 Feb 2025 7:00 PM

Chelsea are reportedly interested in Kaoru Mitoma

Chelsea are reportedly ‘willing’ to spend £75million on Brighton and Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma this summer, who was the subject of Saudi interest in January.

Brighton rejected two Saudi bids for Mitoma last month, the second of which was reportedly as high as £61m, and the Blues are said to be ready to go higher to get him.

The Japanese international is undoubtedly one of the best wingers in the Premier League on his day and scored a mesmerizing goal in Brighton’s 3-0 win over Chelsea on Friday, which Jamie Carragher described as “Lionel Messi-like.”

Kaoru Mitoma ✨

It’s a lovely individual goal, and Brighton lead Chelsea.#BHACHE | #BHAFC

🎥 @SkySportsPL pic.twitter.com/qJhDt73rWv

— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) February 14, 2025

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, Chelsea have ‘begun to show interest in Mitoma’, no doubt even more so since his magical goal.

The report claims that Chelsea are ‘willing to shell out £75m’ to sign Mitoma – ‘a figure that reflects the great admiration they have for the Japanese talent.’

The 27-year-old joined Brighton in 2021 and he has developed into one of, if not their most important player in recent years. He’s scored six goals and made three assists in the Premier League so far this season.

Chelsea to raid Brighton again?

Chelsea are no strangers to doing business with Brighton, having signed Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, and Robert Sanchez from the Seagulls in recent years.

Brighton‘s model relies on buying players for cheap fees and selling them on for big profits, as they did with Caicedo, who Chelsea paid an eye-watering £115million for.

Despite recouping a lot of funds from doing business with Chelsea, there is now something of a rivalry between Brighton on the Blues, with supporters not happy about the London side’s repeated transfer raids. A Chelsea move for Mitoma would no doubt only add to the animosity.

As we have consistently reported, Chelsea are keen to sign a new winger in the summer, and considered bringing one in last month too.

Alejandro Garnacho was discussed by Blues officials, but ultimately they decided not to match Manchester United’s valuation of over £70million.

While Mitoma is undoubtedly a top player, sources have suggested that Chelsea are looking at younger profiles than him, hence the interest in Garnacho.

However, if Mitoma continues to put in excellent performances for Brighton it can’t be ruled out that some more big bids could arrive for him this summer.

Chelsea round-up: Jules Kounde linked, Liam Delap latest

Meanwhile, shock reports from Spain have claimed that Chelsea are considering a big-money bid for Barcelona centre-back Jules Kounde.

The report claims that the Blues are willing to splash an eye-watering €100m (£83m, $105m) on the 40-time capped French international.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco, for their part, are said to consider Kounde ‘untouchable.’

However, given the Catalans’ ongoing financial issues, a bid of €100m would no doubt have to be considered if it arrived.

In other news, TEAMtalk contributor Ben Jacobs has confirmed that Chelsea are currently the frontrunners to sign Ipswich striker Delap, despite rival interest from Manchester United.

“Delap, I think, is also quite intrigued by the Chelsea project, especially knowing that if he’s the number nine that comes in, he may stand a very strong chance of supplanting or at least competing with Nicolas Jackson, who, we must stress, Chelsea do still have big faith in. So Chelsea and Delap is one to watch,” Jacobs said on the Market Madness podcast.

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