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.
Owner Roman Abramovich greenlighted a sum of about £220 million last summer, as the club made five new signings, and added two more on a free. We could have another summer spending spree in 2021, so let’s dive right in with the latest Blues transfer news.
It is widely believed that Chelsea are ahead of Paris Saint-Germain in the race to sign Inter Milan full-back Achraf Hakimi. The 22-year-old Moroccan international is said be to confused and unimpressed by PSG’s failure to go all out in trying to sign him.
One way that Stamford Bridge can potentially sweeten the deal is to throw in midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek as part of the deal; this according to Gazzetta Dello Sport. RLC joins Emerson Palimieri, Andreas Christensen and Marcos Alonso as Blues players who have been linked going the other way as components of a potential swap deal.
Loftus-Cheek saw major playing time this past season while on loan at Fulham, and he’s been linked with a move to Lazio, where he could be reunited with his former boss Maurizio Sarri.
Hakimi, the west London club’s top transfer target this summer, is a man who is wanted by many clubs, but Caught Offside understand that Chelsea are in pole position right now.
Sergio Ramos has officially said his goodbyes after 16 glorious years at the Bernabeau. The former Los Blancos captain has said he hasn’t spoken to any other clubs yet. But obviously his agent has!
Amid links to both United and Chelsea, a man who managed both clubs, Jose Mourninho has publicly backed Ramos to thrive in the Premier League.
And according to Sports Illustrated, Chelsea have offered a contract to the 36-year-old, who is now available on a free/Bosman transfer.
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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