Chelsea target pulls off 'fantastic' FA Cup heroics as Fabrizio Romano confirms failed transfer

Chelsea transfer target Nico O’Reilly bagged two goals for Manchester City in the side’s 3-1 win over Plymouth Argyle on Saturday afternoon in what will have been painful to watch for the London outfit.

The Blues were linked with a late Deadline Day swoop for the 19-year-old but those rumours came to nothing. Following his heroics for the Champions against their Championship opposition, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano took to social media platform X to confirm that those Chelsea attempts to sign the player were concrete.

Romano wrote: “Chelsea wanted Nico O’Reilly in January, Man City said no as they didn’t want to lose future control on the player. “He’s really good!”, Pep Guardiola also said about Nico who scored two goals yesterday.”

Manchester City teen sparkles in FA Cup win

Chelsea have had huge success after signing Cole Palmer from their Premier League rivals for £40 million in 2023. Taking a similar punt on a Manchester City rising star with limited game time may have been fruitful.

That certainly looks to be the case with O’Reilly impressing in the FA Cup. Speaking after the game, Pep Guardiola said: "He’s not a typical player from the Academy because they are all small and have big talent but he has a big, big presence.

“Sometimes we take a good decision otherwise he would not have scored two goals today. Normally he’s an attacking midfielder and runs to the box really well.

“He adapted really well to the full-back role. Nico’s another threat from set-pieces because we are not a tall team. He helps us and played really good with the ball, without the ball. Two fantastic goals.”

Chelsea transfer interest in O’Reilly

Sky Sports had touted that Chelsea could 'resurrect' their transfer interest in O'Reilly on Deadline Day. Speaking on Sky Sports News, correspondent Ben Ransom said: "A word on a Manchester City midfielder that has emerged today, I'm told that Nico O'Reilly is a player that Chelsea had an interest in to the point where they approached Manchester City a bit earlier in this window to see if they could do a permanent deal this month.

"The 19-year-old only made his Premier League debut this year, obviously Chelsea had great success when they took Cole Palmer from Manchester City first team, but negotiations broke down I'm told because Manchester City were insisting on a buy back option and Chelsea did not want to put that into any deal so, at that point talks broke down, but could that be something that gets resurrected in the final few hours of this window?"

Romano had previously slapped a £20 - £25 million price tag on the player, who had made his first team debut for Manchester city in the Community Shield against Manchester United last August. He made his Premier League debut against Ipswich Town earlier this year and scored his first senior goal against Salford in the FA Cup.

In other news, a Chelsea and West Ham £50 million transfer target was hospitalised after a horror tackle on Saturday afternoon.