The perfect Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund transfer swap deal that would give both teams what they want - opinion
Chelsea should be considering a swap deal as they close in on an agreement to allow a player to leave.
Chelsea have an obvious swap deal they should be considering as they near an agreement to offload a player this summer. The Blues are currently hard at work in the United States as they look to win the FIFA Club World Cup.
Enzo Maresca’s men are now in the Round of 16, where they will face Benfica on Saturday, and they will be hoping their campaign will run into July, although there will be some added challenges involved in that, given the usual pre-season plans will look very different. In any case, the Blues are hoping to be involved in the Premier League title race next season, and they need to improve their squad to make that possible.
Maresca has a number of positions he wants to strengthen this summer, and one of them is out wide. It’s clear Chelsea’s priority is to sign Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens. The 20-year-old has become a key player at senior level at Dortmund, and it’s no secret that Chelsea’s transfer strategy involves signing top young players.
Chelsea have fallen short with bids this summer, but they look as though they will end up paying Dortmund’s £55million asking price at some point, given they have refused to move on from Gittens even in the wake of stuttering talks. There could be another solution in the offing, though.
According to BILD, Dortmund are pushing to re-sign Carney Chukwuemeka on loan for next season after the midfielder had a loan spell with the club last summer. Chelsea were said to be willing to sell Chukwuemeka this summer, but the midfielder has a £40million release clause that clubs may not be willing to meet.
The obvious deal that Chelsea should be considering is a player-plus cash deal. Even if they demanded £30million for Chukwuemeka, they could then sign Gittens for around £25million and save themselves almost half of the transfer fee they would be paying in the case of a straight cash deal.
What has been said about Chukwuemeka?
Chelsea boss Maresca said of Chukwuemeka last season: “I will say exactly the same thing I have said many times: Carney is a very good player, but for the amount of players we have, we decided at the beginning of the season it is probably better to leave and go somewhere, prove himself and playing 30 or 35 games than being here and play less games. Unfortunately that didn't happen. He is our player. He had some minutes the other day, today he was not involved. Hopefully, we can give him more minutes."
Dortmund boss Niko Kovac said at the end of the midfielder’s loan deal last season: “Carney will return to Chelsea first. What happens after that is still up in the air. It’s clear that he has qualities and that I like him, that we all like him. But Chelsea are smart enough to structure the process in such a way that they will benefit from it.”
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