Chelsea's £110,000-a-week swap-deal 'turned down' by Premier League rivals

Chelsea are said to have a bid involving members of their ‘bomb squad’ rejected in their pursuit of Everton star Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

The Blues had been hopeful of securing a new striker in the recently passed summer transfer window, despite bringing in 11 new stars. While eyes had been on both now-Al Ahli star Ivan Toney and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, the Toffees’ frontman Calvert-Lewin was always said to be on the Blues’ radar and was a cheaper alternative than either Toney of Osimhen.

However, according to GiveMeSport, Everton turned down a swap-deal that would have seen them part ways with the English international and acquire Axel Disasi and David Datro Fofana. Both the French and Ivorian footballers are now on the fringes of the Chelsea squad after they were told they were unlikely to feature in Enzo Maresca’s plans for the 2024/25 campaign.

The Italian head coach has been keen to get their combined salaries of £110,000-a-week off the club’s wage bill but such offers were refused by their Premier League rivals.

The Toffees were reportedly not entertaining any terms that would have seen Calvert-Lewin depart Goodison Park even though he has entered the final months of his £100,000-per-week contract with the Merseyside club.

Sean Dyche’s side may well lose the star as a free agent at the end of the season and the west London club had believed this would have given them a strong recruiting advantage this summer. However, it was not to be with GMS sources being informed that Everton had no interest in doing business with Chelsea.

It was noted as well that Maresca’s side had been unwilling to pay more than £12.5 million for Calvert-Lewin if a cash deal would only be considered on deadline day, hence why both Disasi and Fofana were thrown into the mix in a swap-deal option. There had reportedly been a ‘determination’ from the Stamford Bridge side to send the centre-back and forward in the opposite direction rather than meeting the 27-year-old’s price tag.

For Everton, however, Calvert-Lewin is always one of the first names written on the team sheet and he has already picked up two goal contributions in the opening three games of the Premier League campaign. The last-minute timing of the deal was also a considering factor with the Everton head coach keen to be left without enough time to find a replacement.

Similarly, Everton had already brought in a new centre-back option in Jake O’Brien, after agreeing a £17m agreement with Lyon in July. They subsequently had no need for Disasi and Fofana has struggled to show that he would make a viable replacement for Calvert-Lewin as the club’s dominant goalscorer.