Chelsea’s opening Premier League match is underneath three weeks away, but it doesn’t seem as if Enzo Maresca is completed together with his switch enterprise.
Regardless of including loads of expertise to his already bloated squad, together with the likes of Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens, the Italian remains to be on the hunt for extra attacking gamers.
Over the last few weeks, Tyler Dibling, Karim Adeyemi and even Actual Madrid starlet Goncalo Garcia have all been linked with strikes to Stamford Bridge.
Whereas preliminary hyperlinks have been established, nothing concrete has been made concerning any of those three gamers as of but.
All of Maresca’s consideration is being taken up by the potential switch of Dutchman Xavi Simons.
The RB Leipzig starlet is edging near a transfer to the Blues, and given his performances within the Bundesliga because the summer season of 2023, might he be the ultimate piece of the attacking jigsaw for the membership?
Any transfer might doubtlessly undergo sooner or later this week, however what precisely will the previous PSG sensation convey to Chelsea?
Why Chelsea are attempting to signal Xavi Simons
On Sunday, journalist Ben Jacobs gave an replace on X concerning the membership’s pursuit of the attacking midfielder.
“Chelsea advancing talks with Xavi Simons. Phrases now broadly in place,” mentioned Jacobs. “Membership-to-club talks ongoing. Chelsea anticipated to position a primary formal provide quickly after verbal discussions over numbers. Talks described as optimistic.”
If all goes to plan, Maresca may very well be welcoming Simons to Stamford Bridge sooner moderately than later, and it’ll give him extra firepower.
The playmaker might value Chelsea a reported £70m, however on the floor, this may very well be cash effectively spent by the London outfit.
The Blues return to the Champions League this season for the primary time since 2022/23. As such, signing somebody who could make a distinction on this competitors makes excellent sense.
Step ahead, Simons. When in comparison with his positional friends within the Champions League final season, the Dutch starlet was chic throughout a variety of efficiency metrics.
Not solely did he rank within the prime 9% for profitable take-ons per 90 (1.88), however the 22-year-old additionally ranked within the prime 2% for shot-creating actions (5.91) and within the prime 11% for progressive carries (3.22) in Europe’s premier membership competitors.
A carry is taken into account progressive if the ball is moved in direction of the opponent’s aim not less than 10 yards from its place to begin or is carried into the penalty space.
With ambitions heightened forward of European competitors subsequent time period as a result of membership’s success on the Membership World Cup this summer season, signing Simons would give Maresca an opportunity of taking his group deep within the event.
Provided that João Félix appears to be shifting on within the subsequent few days, with Chelsea recouping the identical payment that they paid for him a yr in the past, there’s area for Simons to return in.
Regardless of his apparent strengths and his progress potential, do the Blues actually need to make him a precedence signing?
Certainly, it is debatable that their defence wants extra work forward of the Premier League marketing campaign.
Chelsea closing in on one other signing
The hyperlinks to attacking gamers appear to develop daily, however there haven’t been as many defenders linked with a transfer to the membership.
One participant whom the membership have proven loads of curiosity in, nonetheless, is Ajax starlet Jorrel Hato.
In line with Fabrizio Romano, the Blues “might be in direct contact” with Hato concerning a possible deal. Romano additionally went on to state that Hato “solely needs Chelsea” which ought to pave the best way for Maresca to wrap up this deal as quickly as potential.
David Ornstein of The Athletic has additional reported that non-public phrases have already been agreed with Chelsea closing in on a deal that could be value round £40m.
The squad is closely stacked from an attacking perspective, however there is no such thing as a doubt that Chelsea wants one other couple of defenders to freshen issues up.
As such, might Hato turn into a fair higher signing than Simons forward of the 2025/26 marketing campaign?
Why Hato can be a greater signing than Simons for Chelsea
One purpose why Maresca is eager on including {the teenager} to his squad is unquestionably because of his positional flexibility.
Over the course of his embryonic profession to date, Hato has performed 88 video games at left-back and 70 matches as a centre-back.
Hato’s league numbers for Ajax by season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Stat | 22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 |
Video games performed | 11 | 33 | 31 |
Targets scored | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Assists | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Touches per sport | 57.4 | 94.8 | 67.2 |
Correct passes per sport | 42.6 (91%) | 72.8 (93%) | 45.2 (90%) |
Whole duels gained per sport | 3.1 | 5.5 | 4.1 |
Clear sheets | 1 | 5 | 11 |
Stats by Sofascore | |||
Final season, nonetheless, noticed the 19-year-old function on the left facet of the defence and he showcased his skills, each going ahead and defensively.
Within the Eredivisie. The defender helped Ajax hold 11 clear sheets whereas he averaged 1.9 tackles, 0.7 interceptions and was dribbled previous solely 0.3 instances per match.
Alongside together with his eight aim contributions, Hato additionally managed to create six huge possibilities within the prime flight, whereas averaging 0.6 key passes per match, thus displaying loads of attacking intent for his membership.
Moreover, when in comparison with his positional friends in leagues related in repute to the Dutch top-flight over the earlier one year, Hato ranked within the prime 5% for assists (0.21) per 90, together with rating within the prime 11% for touches within the opposition penalty space (2.33) per 90.
On this proof, Hato would provide lots at each ends of the pitch for Chelsea, thus giving Maresca a serious increase.
There was little doubt that the 2024/25 season was his main breakout marketing campaign for the Dutch giants, one which was largely praised by expertise scout Jacek Kulig.
“Jorrel Hato is having a wonderful season,” mentioned Kulig. A unbelievable mixture of full full-back, playmaking full-back, and ball-playing centre-back. Over 100 video games for Ajax and 6 caps for Oranje at 19. Immense high quality and expertise for such a younger defender.”
Simons will convey one thing further to the Chelsea attacking division; there is no such thing as a doubt about that. Nonetheless solely 22, he’ll solely go from energy to energy within the subsequent few years.
Hato, alternatively, could effectively turn into the higher signing for the Stamford Bridge outfit on condition that the Blues are already stacked in offensive areas.
By signing each gamers, it will sign one more assertion of intent by Maresca. Chelsea will certainly be a power to be reckoned with this season if the squad can gel swiftly.
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