Chelsea Transfer Rumours

29 Jun 2026 22:45:37
I think £8 million is a very good offer for 34 year old Granit Xhaka, if he wants the move it will happen, we might be squeezed for a bit more but a very sensible starting point from the club. The transfer market is going crazy this summer and some of our stock piling of players might just turn into huge revenue going forward.

Talks of Delap going for £45 million and Gusto for £75 million, I'm not really into all this banter about what a player is worth or is not worth but I'm bored watching this Germany game tonight so thought I would get involved. Fair play to the owners for showing the foresight over the last few seasons to snap up potential.

30 Jun 2026 05:49:56
Greenaway, if Sunderland don't want to sell they don't have to but I agree that I personally wouldn't want the club to pay much more than our reported offer.

My guess would be, if a deal is to happen, it will be because the "player" wants to leave.

30 Jun 2026 08:12:54
We move onto our next target then, Tom. Why would Sunderland sell their most influential player? It was always going to be a tough ask, even with a better offer.

30 Jun 2026 08:18:16
Bill, exactly, mate. The only way I can see it changing is if the player says he wants to move.
The player may well be unhappy if we move onto another target and he wants to leave.

30 Jun 2026 08:38:12
So be it, Tom. That is for Sunderland to worry about. Our worry is, where are our leaders coming from?

Please don't say 'within.' We completely imploded in the second half of last season. Even if the coach was not good enough, we have had this situation before, but JT, Lamps, etc. stood up and pulled us through.

30 Jun 2026 11:28:07
My feeling is, if Xhaka really wants this move, he will ask Sunderland to find a compromise, and if not, he will then have to hand in a transfer request.
Either way, I think he will be joining us, I hope so.

30 Jun 2026 13:13:55
But they don't have to transfer him, swcfc.

30 Jun 2026 14:03:15
That's true, of course, Bill, but they will then be keeping a disgruntled, demotivated player who's burnt his bridges with the club and fans.
It really depends on how much he wants the move and is prepared to push.

30 Jun 2026 16:03:50
Bill, why would I say "from within" when I have been very critical of what appears to be a lack of leaders in our squad for several seasons.
We are not the only club in the Premiership who would very rarely keep an unhappy player.

30 Jun 2026 16:35:19
My point is, where are we going to get the leaders we need? We are already messing Sunderland around with what could be one.

30 Jun 2026 17:21:28
Why on earth do you think we are messing Sunderland around? We have put in an offer that's been turned down. If they say to us, "no matter what you offer, we will not sell," then I guess we walk away.

Bill, I have no idea who is on the list of our targets; we may well have loads of leaders on that list.



I'm all for digging the club out when it's reasonable, but I can't see any reason to be critical at the moment.

30 Jun 2026 17:45:53
Trust the vision, Bill. The Sds have delivered so far. We're stacked top to bottom with future leaders and stars. We just have to wait 5 years to see if any of the good ones can be bothered staying.

29 Jun 2026 22:32:22
Could this be true, Liverpool have asked about the availability of Josh?

Under no circumstances would I sell him. If we did, I wouldn’t pay much. Be totally gutted.

30 Jun 2026 08:14:38
Tom

As you have said before, it's a business, and Josh is a home grown player (PSR), who, incidentally, never gets to play.

30 Jun 2026 11:16:05
We're planning to sell 4-5 CBs. I imagine Josh will get plenty of playing time afterwards.

30 Jun 2026 16:06:17
Bill, CFC being a business, and players being bought and sold, would not make me happy when a player I personally rate is sold.

30 Jun 2026 16:36:36
Nor me, Tom, but our owners /SD's, who knows?

30 Jun 2026 17:24:24
Bill, it's nothing new. We have been selling players for years. I always say we sold our best ever player to avoid going bust over 60 years ago. Nothing has changed with this ownership. Although clubs didn't have SDs to bitch about in those days!!

27 Jun 2026 18:29:40
Granit Xhaka is the midfield signing. Club fully backing the new manager.

27 Jun 2026 20:42:37
Would be a very interesting signing. I mentioned the other day what had happened to the Premier League-ready and experienced idea; this certainly falls into that category, and he is a character / leader.



It does look like we are trying to add some physicality to the squad, with the players linked: Palestra, Lacroix, Xhaka.
A good thing, in my opinion, because we can look soft at times.

27 Jun 2026 21:04:17
Under most circumstances, Chelsea signing Xhaka would not have got me excited. But, the fact he was central to Alonso's Leverkusen side, alongside both how good he was for Sunderland last season and the fact it's the club swaying from their model to support the manager - it's another good bit of business this summer.

28 Jun 2026 01:15:07
Agreed. I think he will be one of our best signings come the end of the year. We haven't had an experienced leader since Tiago left, and it will be huge for the entire squad! Being able to show the lads in training what is expected from Xabi can't be understated either.



Really happy to see the model is shifting, and that Xabi seems to have a high level of say in what's going on.

28 Jun 2026 09:03:06
This is a completely different player than the one who left Arsenal. If we get it over the line, he'll be a standard setter and I get the impression that he'd be quick to let players know when the standards required aren't being met. Forget anything he does on the pitch. That's what's needed. I believe Alonso referred to him as a coach on the pitch.

28 Jun 2026 09:08:25
If Xhaka happens, it will be a very smart move by Alonso and the club. It tweaks the model nicely, and allows the very promising young players already signed up to both learn from an experienced player and have a clear pathway of their own.

I'm thinking of Andre Santos in particular. I far prefer this route as opposed to spending large on Adam Wharton and binning off Santos on some far away loan, only to lose him going forward.

29 Jun 2026 09:30:25
It was going to be hard to get him out of Sunderland, but even harder now we have pissed them off with an offer of £8mil.

29 Jun 2026 17:13:46
8m bid... They've said they won't entertain any more offers either... The clowns in charge strike again.

29 Jun 2026 19:07:19
Club puts in offer for player. The plates club says not enough. The buying club then gets pelters from its fans for low balling.

Club puts in offer for player. The players club says that will do nicely, thanks very much.

The fans then dish out pelters for paying over the odds.

It's a funny old world. I personally would rather the club put in a low offer to start with.

29 Jun 2026 20:21:23
Tom

There are low offers, then there are insulting offers. We have just done the latter.

It's always going to be a hard task to secure his services, based on the influence he has on the Sunderland squad.

29 Jun 2026 22:08:09
Tom, if you're serious about buying a player, it's good practice to not insult them and waste everyone's time. Once again, we seem rudderless at the SD level, but keep making excuses for them.

29 Jun 2026 22:23:00
I have no idea if we will put in another bid for the player, but I assume we have a maximum valuation. If Sunderland do not want to sell at whatever our max valuation is, then just walk away.

If that doesn't make some fans happy, then unlucky. For me that's the complete opposite to "rudderless."

29 Jun 2026 22:27:31
I should add, I admit to having an agenda. I think he is an ok player that could do a job for a couple of seasons, but I wouldn't pay much more than we have offered.

29 Jun 2026 22:43:17
It makes us rudderless when we splash cash on the likes of Mudryk, Gittens, Garnacho, Datro, Fofana, Lavia and 10s of others, but try and lowball and insult when it comes to a prem proven leader. That is exactly what we could do with.

30 Jun 2026 05:44:08
What was paid for any other player has absolutely zero to do with how the club values another player.

I personally believe that in this case the valuation is about right.

As I have said before, it's impossible for the club to make every fan happy. It's the same with how fans value a player in financial terms.

30 Jun 2026 08:17:22
Tom

I thought Alonso had more say in matters. Do we not want to make him happy, or will he walk out before pre-season?

30 Jun 2026 08:32:57
Bill, maybe the club and Alonso have an agreed financial budget for players coming in, and let's say, hypothetically, that budget is £200 million and they have already earmarked £45 million for a new RWB, £45 million for a new CB, and still plan to buy a LWB, GK and striker for x amount, which might only leave, say, £8 million for a CM.

I'm sure Alonso is pulling the strings, but will of course have some restrictions. I hope this helps explain things, mate.

30 Jun 2026 16:08:48
Bill, I'm sure the decision makers, including Alonso, have a valuation in mind for all our player targets.

30 Jun 2026 17:50:36
That's the issue, Tom... No one trusts the valuations or strategies of the SDs, as they have got us into a huge mess.

26 Jun 2026 23:39:54
Are Chelsea looking at Maxi Araujo, 26, from Sporting?

Uruguay left-back.

24 Jun 2026 22:57:40
Lacroix deal is on! Very happy with that, generally happy with the business so far. Looking forward to seeing who they go for on the attacking right and who we get in if we need to replace Fernandez.

25 Jun 2026 06:04:19
*Attacking left.

25 Jun 2026 19:29:45
Can't say I've seen much of him. Ed001 what's your take on him? Should we be excited about the prospect of signing him?

{Ed001's Note - he looked very good for Palace, but hard to say how good as they played such a defensive low block that it did make it easier for a defender. However, he did stand out for them. Looked like he had the ability to step up a level that is for sure, so I would be cautiously optimistic if I was you.}

25 Jun 2026 20:20:58
Cheers Ed, that does sounds promising!

{Ed001's Note - he is one of the few centre-backs in the Prem that I would have said were worth looking at, if I had been asked by the club, so should be a good move.}

26 Jun 2026 01:58:03
Ed001, I keep seeing Juve need to raise money given they failed to qualify for the CL, is that true?

{Ed001's Note - yes. For some reason a lot of clubs set their budgets with the expectation of qualifying for Europe, so failure to do so causes them no end of problems.}

26 Jun 2026 12:19:04
Cheeky bid for Yildiz ed001? Or they going to make it up with selling others?

{Ed001's Note - they are not in a position to refuse good offers for anyone mate. Not unless they can flog a few fringe players.}

24 Jun 2026 21:01:34
According to Sky Sports, Chelsea have placed a large transfer fee on Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernandez.

Everton will not trigger Tyrique George's £25 million buy out clause.

Chelsea want to sign Lacroix from Palace and have stepped up the interest.

Chelsea step up interest in Leeds left back Gabriel Gudmundsson.



Man City, Inter Milan and Liverpool all want to sign Marco Palestra and can offer Champions League football, Palestra is two footed and runs like a panther and is so highly regarded it would be a major coup for any club to land him.

Sources. Sky Sport, Matt Law, Romano, Ornstein.

25 Jun 2026 08:37:26
Trevoh Chalobah has strong interest from Como and Inter Milan, and can leave Chelsea this summer to pursue a new chapter of his career in Italy.

24 Jun 2026 14:21:11
Very interesting to see Carra on the Liverpool pages (typically a very good track record of having direct information from within LFC) said that we met with Diomande's agent.

I believe Leipzig already turned down a 100m euro offer from Liverpool, so kind of wild that we are interested knowing that. Would be a monster statement of intent. Can't see how we afford it before sales.

He did note that we were told he only wants to join LFC. Maybe Drogba can get in his ear haha.

Also he is only 19, but had a huge season in Germany and is playing extremely well for Ivory Coast at the WC, so another that would likely get into our starting 11 quite easily despite his age.

24 Jun 2026 20:14:47
He can play both sides, but he's mostly played off the right at Leipzig. Also, seems strange if we're gonna play with 5 at the back. Honestly, don't see anything in it.

23 Jun 2026 19:54:17
If we are about to sign Palestra, I assume we are selling Gusto.

The rumours are that everything is agreed. We will see!

23 Jun 2026 23:14:15
Yeah, looks like we've come in late and, financially, blown Inter out of the water. Can't imagine Gusto will be staying now, probably off to City - not a massive loss, in my opinion.

Palestra will take some time to settle, but is a player that can play FB or WB on either side, allowing Alonso to be tactically flexible.



I think we'll add Barco, Lacroix and a left sided 10, on top of Palestra. That'll pretty much be it.

24 Jun 2026 00:15:12
I agree with that, J. Slim possibility of a GK in Maignan if we can find a suitor for Sanchez or if Penders is happy for another loan.

24 Jun 2026 00:18:07
Haven't ever watched him play, but know there are high expectations and happy to see us through the checkbook at a deal to get it done.

If it also means we sell Gusto to a rival, it's the cherry on top.

24 Jun 2026 09:20:47
So what has happened to the idea of buying experienced players, who are Premiership-ready with great talent & character?

To be fair, I have never seen Palestra play, but how many of those boxes does he tick?
Maybe just talent, but that's not what we currently need.

Once again, I think our transfer policy is confusing.

24 Jun 2026 14:19:28
Swcfc, I had also wondered about this, as I had thought the Alonso appointment meant we were now more open again to buying seasoned
top-tier proven players.

24 Jun 2026 14:21:42
Instead, it seems more likely that we will sell more than we bring in, starting with Cucurella. But the transfer window has a very long way to go, of course.

24 Jun 2026 20:16:58
I think the change was that the manager now has more overall say, & I assume the age profile of players has been relaxed. It sounds like Palestra was an Alonso pick, though.

Just seen Chelsea apparently want £75m for Gusto. 😂 I think we'll probably ask/want around the £40m mark myself.

24 Jun 2026 20:50:34
Why would you sell Gusto for less than we are paying for Palestra? He's playing in the Premier League already and Palestra is unproven.

24 Jun 2026 21:50:39
Proven to be what. 😆

Value is not just about ability, it's about contractual term, age, amortised valuation, wages... A £45m Palestra might be better value than getting £45m for Gusto.

A £75m Gusto?

It's hard to negotiate when the other side can't stop laughing.

22 Jun 2026 07:03:48
Como are interested in Chelsea CB Trevoh Chalobah, but there’s big gap in valuation at this stage.

Difficult deal as CFC value Chalobah highly and Como are being careful with their budget.

Source: Fabrizio Romano.

22 Jun 2026 14:59:14
Maybe they should take their begging bowl elsewhere Rpd.

23 Jun 2026 07:20:48
I think, in today's market, and if wanted to sell Chalaboa, I think £35-40m ish.

23 Jun 2026 09:10:27
At least Tom, he is an England international after all.

21 Jun 2026 23:10:24
Apparently there is some substance to the Wharton Chelsea signing.

I have posted before. I’m not a massive fan. He does look to move the ball forward but is often caught out of position.



I usually say I enjoy the rumours but rarely the fact, but this is a rumour I’m not that happy about. If we do sign him, he will immediately become the best midfielder in Europe. I hope!

22 Jun 2026 08:27:30
The money Palace would be asking for would be silly. I would sooner go for Anderson.

22 Jun 2026 08:50:43
Let's just give Santos a proper run in the side, and develop him alongside Caicedo. Surely our priorities are a world-class centre-back and keeper.

22 Jun 2026 10:33:54
I agree with Greenaway in terms of giving Santos a run in the side, as I think he may have more to offer in the long term than Wharton, who would apparently cost a huge fee. If we lose Enzo F, as seems probable, I would like to see him replaced by someone with more creative flair and goal scoring ability than Wharton.

Santos has shown that scoring ability for Brazil junior sides and at Strasbourg, but we probably bring in another, more experienced midfielder with this attacking midfielder ability, and Santos can play a deeper role, as he generally has done for us so far?

22 Jun 2026 14:37:43
As long as the money isn't ridiculous, I think Warton could fit in well. With the creative players ahead of him, he could make a big difference in our ability to get forward quickly. If the fee is anywhere near the 85m that Newcastle supposedly want for Tonali, I would much rather he came in, though.



As long as we get some deals over the line early, it should make a big difference having a full preseason with Xabi.

22 Jun 2026 20:31:21
It's being said that Palace want near the £80m mark so I'd steer clear.

23 Jun 2026 09:11:01
Agreed, fuser.