Chelsea can slash £35m off asking price for creative talent with clever swap deal

Chelsea have found out the price of pulling off a deal for one of their reported targets. The Blues have already been busy in this summer transfer window, snapping up two strikers and a winger, with plenty of focus on attacking talent.

Enzo Maresca will be pleased with what the club have managed so far, and he clearly already has a strong squad, as shown by the club’s success at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States. But more recruitment will be taking place at Stamford Bridge this summer, and it’s reported an attacking midfielder could be an option.

Reports have claimed that Chelsea are considering a deal for RB Leipzig attacking midfielder Christopher Nkunku, and it will be a pricey deal to pull off. Ben Jacobs has reported: “Arsenal and Chelsea both have Xavi Simons on their radar, as reported last month. Leipzig haven’t had any approaches or bids yet. Simons keen on a Premier League move, and to leave this summer. Leipzig paid €50m+€30m, but not all add-ons triggered since leaving PSG. €65m plus add-ons is understood to be a realistic ballpark.”

Simons is still only 22 years of age, and he played a big role for Leipzig last season, scoring 11 times in 33 appearances across all competitions, also providing eight assists. Chelsea could add real depth for Cole Palmer while also adding a player who can play in other areas, like out wide.

Potential swap deal in the offing

Chelsea could consider a player-plus-cash deal to land Xavi Simons this summer, with Christopher Nkunku being the obvious option. Nkunku played his best football at Leipzig, scoring 47 times in 119 league appearances, and the Blues could well offload the forward this summer.

The Blues are said to have an asking price of around £35million, which could reduce the Simons fee to around £20million if Leipzig will re-sign their former attacker.

Nkunku played with Chelsea at the Club World Cup, and Maresca said of the Frenchman’s involvement at the time: “Christo is with us. He's our player. He's doing very well in the last four, five days. For sure, tomorrow we are going to do rotation. We'll see if there is any chance for the ones that are not playing a lot."

During the season Nkunku struggled for regular starts, and Maresca explained at one stage: “A lack of confidence in this moment but the only way to deal with that is to work hard. The good thing about Christo is that he's working well every day.”

Addressing claims of a lack of effort from the forward, the Italian said: “No [I don’t think it’s a lack of effort], I think it’s just one game. I don’t think it’s a lack of effort because at the end I can see Christo every day and he’s working well. Sometimes probably he wants to give more during a game and he struggles a little bit, but for sure I don’t think it’s a lack of effort.”

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