5 last-gasp Chelsea deals including Sancho swap in dream deadline day scenario (2024)

Chelsea have been the talk of this summer's transfer window and may not be done yet as Transfer Deadline Day looms.

After spending £248million and £393m in the summers of 2022 and 2023 respectively, Todd Boehly's Blues have continued the trend and broken the £200m mark again this time around.

A deal for skilful winger Pedro Neto, the return of trickster Joao Felix and £30m signing of Leicester ace Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall headline Enzo Maresca's summer business - which has also been eye-catching for more negative reasons.

The public ousting of players deemed surplus to requirements, namely Raheem Sterling, Trevoh Chalobah and Ben Chilwell, hasn't won the club any favours with fans and pundits alike. Leading up to deadline day offloading this exiled group will likely take priority, as Mirror Football looks at the outgoings and a few incomings that Chelsea could still wrap up before the window closes.

Trevoh Chalobah: OUT

"The Trevoh situation for me is quite clear," Maresca said after centre-half Chalobah missed out on the team's US pre-season tour. "We have Axel [Disasi] there, we have Tosin [Adarabioyo] there, we have Wes [Fofana]. It’s a sad decision but we have to make it.”

As with a range of Blues players, this summer, Chalobah finds himself on the chopping block - training away from the first team as part of the infamous 'bomb squad' and told to seek pastures new.

Chalobah is notably a Cobham graduate, so any fee generated from the sale of the 25-year-old centre-half would count as pure profit regarding Financial Fair Play rules. Maresca's side will be eager to get the defender off of their books because of this.

Suitors, however, have come few and far between. There were rumours that multiple Premier League clubs, such as Crystal Palace Newcastle and Aston Villa, were interested in the £25m man, but those murmurs have since subsided. Italian outfit Atalanta have also been mooted as his next destination, but they have supposedly been put off by the player's hefty salary.

Yet, if the Blues can pocket their asking price for the Englishman, they may be able to fund a move that has been hinted at all window - securing the services of a top striker.

Victor Osimhen: IN

Nigerian superstar Victor Osimhen is evidently not part of Antonio Conte's plans at Napoli. He has been left out of both of their Serie A matches so far this season and looks set to leave Italy.

Exiled Blues star Romelu Lukaku is all lined up as his replacement, and the only question left to answer is where will Osimhen end up? A move to PSG was in the works, but now seems dead in the water, and a European switch is reportedly preferred as opposed to a Saudi Pro League move.

Chelsea, then, seem an obvious choice. Despite Nicolas Jackson netting the opener in their 6-2 win at Wolves, the team's loss against Manchester City revealed weaknesses in the striker's finishing, and a top centre-forward has been touted to come in to bolster the front-line.

Osimhen would be a pricey acquisition. He was thought to be originally valued at around £100m, but with the number of potential buyers dwindling, this has reportedly been lowered to a rumoured £60m. Despite it seeming unbelievable that the west London side make another big signing before the window shuts, with the backing of Boehly, who knows?

If an approach for Osimhen fails, Brentford's Ivan Toney is another name linked with a move to Stamford Bridge, as his Bees contact winds down next year and potential landing spots have all but fizzled out.

Raheem Sterling: OUT

Sterling is another player Chelsea will be desperate to offload, given his sky-high wages and public disgruntlement at being left out of Maresca's first team.

The winger's £325,000-a-week contract complicates any sale, and it is reported that the issues involving his current deal which expires in three years, need to be sorted out before any switch is agreed upon.

Namely Italian giants Juventus, as well as Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, all reportedly have an interest in the 29-year-old, who was cruelly ousted from Maresca's Premier League plans and made to train as part of the club's 'bomb squad.'

However, another potential move has emerged that would see Sterling head to Manchester United and fellow out-of-sorts Englishman Jadon Sancho head in the opposite direction.

Jadon Sancho: IN

Despite Neto and Felix's arrival, Chelsea are thought to have admired Sancho for some time and could use the Sterling situation to their advantage and secure the 24-year-old's signature.

After a public feud with boss Erik ten Hag, Sancho was sent out on loan in January, returning to the place where he made a name for himself: Borussia Dortmund.

Come this summer, he returned to Old Trafford ready to begin a new but hasn't won the favour of Ten Hag and looks to be on the periphery of the first-team squad.

Swapping Sancho for Sterling would give Chelsea a younger winger to add to their ranks and the Red Devils an experienced trophy-winning forward, but the swap has not reached concrete negotiations and remains complicated due to Sterling's earnings.

Ben Chilwell: OUT

Sterling could potentially be joined in Manchester by another exiled Englishman in Chilwell. The 27-year-old has been ousted from Maresca's squad by the in-form Marc Cucurella - who won Euro 2024 with Spain - and, after only signing a new deal last year, sees himself on the heavily populated chopping block.

While no concrete suitors have yet emerged, United are reportedly interested in signing the defender. Luke Shaw being sidelined yet again and Tyrell Malacia's long-term absence mean that a left-back to accompany Diogo Dalot may be necessary.

The roughly £50m paid for Chilwell's services in 2020 will not be fully recouped, however, as The Athletic suggest that Chilwell is valued at just north of £13m.

This price is one that Ten Hag's side could realistically pay, as the two clubs seem destined to interact in one way or another come deadline day, with deals for Sancho, Sterling, and Chilwell to be potentially discussed.

While it would be expected that Chelsea's deadline day be headlined by outgoings, they may still make a marquee signing in the form of Osimhen or Toney, adding a potent final piece to Maresca's overpopulated squad.

As their spending under Boehly's reign tips the £1billion mark, it will now be expected - even more so should a top striker join - that this young, costly team competes for silverware at the league's summit or risk public and financial backlash.

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