The end of the summer transfer window is fast approaching and Chelsea are still in the market to strengthen their squad before the start of the season.
The Blues begin their Premier League campaign against Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, August 14, but still have two matches to go before then as they face Tottenham Hotspur in a friendly and Villarreal in the Super Cup.
football.london's Sam Inkersole spoke with Adam Newson in a Facebook Live to discuss the recent matters surrounding the club as they look ahead to what is poised to be a busy couple of weeks in the lead-up to their opening-day clash.
Newson gave the latest on Chelsea's pursuit of Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, whilst previewing their final pre-season friendly against Tottenham and rumours linking Callum Hudson-Odoi with a move away from the club.
Here are the highlights of the discussion.
Lukaku latest
Newson: “I think the background interest has been there throughout the summer from Chelsea.
“Three names continuously mentioned around the club are [Erling] Haaland, [Romelu] Lukaku and Harry Kane. The latter of those was going to be virtually impossible to complete and Haaland looked the more likely purely because of Lukaku’s comments before the Euros. He said he wanted to stay at Inter despite Antonio Conte leaving which seemingly focused Chelsea’s interest on Haaland. But the problem with that is the amount of money Borussia Dortmund are demanding; I think it’s £150 million plus.
“I think Chelsea have got to that stage now where they have sort of decided that we do need to get one of these guys in the building. Lukaku is the easiest to do that with just from a price point. Whether they can convince him to come back is another issue. They need to convince Inter to sell as well, but the interest there is genuine. Over the next few weeks, Chelsea are going to push hard for it.
“Lukaku is a boyhood Chelsea fan and started to support the club at the age of 10. There’s that famous video of him at Stamford Bridge when he was 17. He was already a star in Belgium at that point in the Anderlecht first-team and he was marvelling being at Chelsea despite being a star in his country at that point. He obviously went on to join the club a year later and it didn’t work out for him for some reason.
“He went out on loan spells to West Brom and Everton before joining the Toffees permanently. He was going to rejoin Chelsea in 2017 but it didn’t happen and he signed for Manchester United. But now we’re back again at this point of Lukaku being on Chelsea’s radar and the reunion trying to be taken place.
“It would be a nice continuation of the story, I think. He’s obviously a very good player and has spoken quite publicly about how Conte has improved his game. It’s sharpened his work with his back to goal and his game has been taken to a new level in Italy. Lukaku is in his prime and would be an absolutely fantastic signing for Chelsea.”
Looking ahead to Tottenham friendly
Newson: “It will be a very interesting game. I’m guessing Chelsea can officially win the Mind Series tomorrow too if they win the match, which will be a big achievement.
“It should be an interesting game, not just from a Chelsea perspective but also seeing how Spurs are evolving under Nuno [Espirito Santo]. The players who returned on Monday from international duty have no chance of featuring; that includes Thiago Silva as well. I’m interested to see if [Cesar] Azpilicueta and [Andreas] Christiansen are given minutes.
“Chelsea have been operating throughout pre-season that if you have seven days of training you can play in the matches. They’ve only been back five, so it will be big decision as to whether or not you throw them in. I’m keen to see if they do come into squad, who steps out. It will be another good chance for people to get minutes, whether that be 45 or more. [Kai] Havertz and [Timo] Werner will likely get a little bit more and [N'Golo] Kante could get a half.
“This will likely get Chelsea more match ready with the Super Cup a week away and Chelsea will have to get themselves sharpened up now.
“Obviously, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is a player whose future is undecided given comments from Thomas Tuchel on Sunday. He said it’s in Ruben’s hands to do what he wants to do here. Trevoh Chalobah and Dujon Sterling both played well against Arsenal, so these guys may have a final opportunity to cement themselves in Tuchel’s squad going forward.”
Callum Hudson Odoi future
Newson: “He’s (Hudson-Odoi) not on the transfer list and Chelsea aren’t actively looking to sell him.
“However, I think this the same with a lot of players and if a huge offer comes in the club would consider it. I don’t think that’s huge news to be completely honest. I think there’s players in the squad if a big bid comes in for them then Chelsea would obviously think about it.
“You look at Antonio Rudiger and if someone came in with a lot of money and he has just a year left on his contract. Would Chelsea consider it? Almost certainly. Same for a few guys in the squad and I think that’s where people are reading too much into how Chelsea are willing to sell Hudson-Odoi.
“I don’t think that’s the case and I just think if a big money bid came in the club would have to look at it. It would have to be a huge fee though. They have rejected big money from Bayern Munich in the past when he had six-months to a year left on his contract and I don’t think they’re just going to give up on him that quickly. I don’t think Callum is on the transfer list at all.”
