Welcome to the summer silly season! Chelsea FC were essentially “champions” of this competition, last time out, as they outspent the rest of the world, by a considerable margin, in the last summer transfer window.
Expect Owner Roman Abramovich to greenlight another summer spending spree this time around, so let’s dive straight in with the latest Blues transfer news and notes. This edition focuses more on the selling portion of the transfer window, instead of the buying component.
Before Chelsea can make their big, bold buys, they need to excise the players who are surplus to requirements, and Fikayo Tomori is one such example.
Tomori made his loan move to AC Milan into a permanent switch, which was announced by the club today. The 23-year-old former Brighton, Hull and Derby man joined the Rossoneri on an initial loan with the option to sign this past January.
“AC Milan is delighted to announce the exercising of the option for the permanent transfer of Oluwafikayomi Oluwadamilola Tomori from Chelsea,” the club’s statement reads.
“The English defender, who made 22 appearances and scored one goal over the last season, will continue to play with the Club until 30 June 2025.”
This seems to be like a good move for all sides, as it is in the best interests of every party that’s involved.
For the next item, we stay with the theme of Chelsea defenders going to Serie A.
Emerson Palmieri has been heavily linked with an exit this summer, quite a bit, often coming up as a name that would be a part of a mega deal to sign Achraf Hakimi from Inter Milan.
However, today’s item covers the concept of Emerson going to a different Italian club, in Napoli.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport. Palmieri is at the top of their summer shopping list. He already has experience playing in the top flight of his native land, as Chelsea acquired him from AS Roma in 2018. Napoli are among a host of Serie A clubs said to be interested in the full back.
The 26-year-old will see his contract run out in 2022. Talks between the two clubs are said to have been ongoing for quite some time, with a lot of bartering over Chelsea’s initial €15 million valuation. Napoli are reportedly hoping to knock about €3m-€4m off that amount.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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