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.
Chelsea are substantially interested in Aston Villa captain and English international Jack Grealish this summer, according to a report in Football Insider.
A long time target of Manchester United, Old Trafford have probably moved on from him now entirely, as they are instead focusing on closing Jadon Sancho.
However, the other Manchester club could provide competition for Chelsea, as Pep Guardiola is looking to add the stellar out wide player as part of City’s summer strengthening plans. If Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi don’t happen for City, and right now it looks like Kane is the only one with any realistic shot of happening, then Grealish could be their transfer window attacking player signing.
Grealish will be very expensive though, as he recently re-upped with Villa, signing a five-year deal. His valuation is said to be abount £100m.
Elsewhere a report in The Athletic claims that Norwich City want to sign Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour on loan this upcoming season.
Gilmour, currently with Scotland at the Euros, but now sidelined after testing positive with COVID-19, would be best served by going to a destination where he could get regular first team football, as he’s not going to break into the Blues first choice midfield any time soon.
Highly rated and very strongly regarded, Chelsea will definitely not want to sell him off, and a loan deal is a much better option for them.
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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