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Chelsea close in on centre-back signing and have two wingers in their sights
Chelsea are about to sign a new centre-back with the free transfer of Tosin Adarabioyo. A verbal agreement has been reached, and documents will be signed next week after his medical tests if everything goes to plan.
Newcastle were close to signing the defender, who is a free agent after deciding to leave Fulham, but the deal was never done. They were one step away, but it was never a done deal in terms of things being signed, it was just advanced talks. Chelsea have been able to convince him on their long term project, the vision, and Enzo Maresca’s ideas were also shared during their conversations.
So, Adarabioyo has accepted their proposal as deal will be completed next week. It looks like smart business by Chelsea, in my opinion, as they sign a proven Premier League player on a free, someone with experience but not old, so a good long-term option and a smart first signing for new manager Enzo Maresca. There was interest from a lot of other clubs, not just Newcastle – back in January AC Milan were also showing an interest, and also other clubs around Europe.
Chelsea are also internally discussing the goalkeeper position, and also deciding if they maybe want another centre-back, as well as a central striker. I can also say that a new winger is a possibility, and it may be worth returning on the Michael Olise case in the next days, because he’s a player appreciated by Chelsea for sure. But I can also say that Chelsea have been closely monitoring Crysencio Summerville.
Summerville has just had a fantastic season in the Championship, with Leeds unlucky in their race for promotion as they lost the playoff final to Southampton, and now Summerville is expected to change clubs this summer. Two clubs have been monitoring him more than others, and they are Chelsea and Liverpool.
The interest is really concrete from these two clubs – let’s see what they decide to do in terms of negotiations because we are not yet at that stage, and let’s see if other clubs decide to join the race, but for sure Summerville looks like one to watch for Chelsea and Liverpool.
Newcastle should still sign Lloyd Kelly, but could star leave for Liverpool?
As I said, while it was never quite a done deal for Newcastle to sign Tosin Adarabioyo, it was pretty advanced, so that’s a blow for them, but what about their other top target Lloyd Kelly, who is leaving Bournemouth also as a free agent?
Newcastle remain set to sign Kelly – I’m told nothing crazy can happen on that deal, he will be a Newcastle player. With Adarabioyo, the Chelsea hijack has been completed, but I wouldn’t expect anything similar to happen on the Kelly to Newcastle deal.
Another Newcastle story I’ve had some fans asking me about is the situation with Anthony Gordon. He’s been linked with Liverpool by some outlets and I’m aware that we also keep hearing about Newcastle needing to sell some star names because of Financial Fair Play.
However, as of now I’m not aware of Newcastle considering to sell Gordon. I don’t have this info, let’s see if the situation changes in the next weeks but Newcastle have not made any decision on Gordon exit so far.
Arsenal back in for Victor Osimhen? Plus truth on Johan Bakayoko’s future
As I’ve previously reported, Chelsea are not working on a deal for Victor Osimhen this summer, and there will be no swap deal with Napoli involving Romelu Lukaku. We’re now seeing Arsenal linked with Osimhen again and this has understandably got a lot of fans talking.
However, on Arsenal, every day we have a new striker close in the media – one day it’s Brian Brobbey, one day Benjamin Sesko, one day Alexander Isak, one day Osimhen, The truth is that they are still assessing options internally, so we have to let them work and then we’ll see. I’ll keep you posted as soon as something concrete happens.
Arsenal have also been linked with Johan Bakayoko of PSV in the Dutch media. For now I’m told there are many clubs keen on Bakayoko, but so far nothing is advanced with any particular club. For example there’s interest also from Germany, but from England too…it’s an open situation, but one to develop in the next weeks rather than now.
Erik ten Hag yet to receive formal communication from Man Utd, and permanent Jadon Sancho transfer looks difficult for Dortmund
There have been really important meetings at Manchester United this week as they hold their internal review over the season and over the future of manager Erik ten Hag. But it’s also about the summer transfer window, the transfer budget, the Financial Fair Play situation, and also the injury situation after a difficult season with too many injuries.
With Ten Hag, my understanding is that the Dutch coach and his agents are still waiting for formal communication from Manchester United to understand the club’s position. We’re still waiting for confirmation on their position and we could hear this in the next days as we’re entering into the moment for the final decision. The board is involved, Ten Hag is waiting, the players are waiting – we’re entering into the really crucial stages on this.
After that, United will plan for the summer transfer window – as I’ve already mentioned, they could sign one centre-back or maybe two, with Raphael Varane leaving. Discussions are ongoing internally, and many managers are waiting as there could be an opportunity there. As I already told you, Thomas Tuchel would be super keen on the job as he’d love another opportunity in the Premier League, but also other managers could be keeping an eye on it as there are crucial days ahead on this story.
Another important situation to watch will be with Jadon Sancho. Borussia Dortmund will talk to Man United in the next days about Sancho, and then we’ll have to see how talks and meetings will go. For sure Borussia Dortmund can’t spend crazy money; but they want to try to keep Sancho as he’s happy at the club, while United’s priority remains a permanent sale, for sure.