Chelsea transfer roundup (9 August to 15 August 2021)
2. Four Chelsea players close to leaving the club
Recently, three players are said to be close to leaving the club in order to reduce the squad size, which stood at 42 players at one point this preseason. The first player expected to leave the club is Brazilian midfielder Kenedy. Kenedy, who spent the last season on loan at Granada, is said to have been in talks with Brazilian side Flamengo all summer. Now, Flamengo is confident in sealing a loan deal with the Blues which includes an option to buy at £8.5 million. Having already trained under Tuchel in the pre-season training camp, it can be assumed Kenedy failed to impress the boss and now finds himself on the transfer market. Chelsea would prefer a permanent deal, but the financial condition of the footballing world will not allow that to happen at the moment, so a loan deal with an option to buy seems like the right choice.
The second player linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge is Ike Ugbo. It is said that the Blues striker is in final talks over a move back to the Belgian top flight—after excelling at Cercle Brugge last season. Genk is said to have offered £4.2 million, with the move expected to be completed this week. A whole host of clubs like Fulham, Watford, Monaco and Anderlecht were vying for his signature, however, Genk’s proposal was the strongest overall, seeing it win the race for Ugbo.
The third player leaving the club is American defender Matt Miazga. Miazga is said to be in advanced talks with the La Liga side Alaves. While the deal does look set, the structure of the deal is still being discussed. With only a year left on his contract, Chelsea will likely look to extend the deal by another year before allowing him to leave on loan. This is in order to avoid having the centerback depart for free next summer. Miazga had a successful loan spell in Belgium with Anderlecht last season, but could not make his move permanent. Alaves finished 16th last season in La Liga and securing the signature of Miazga can help it challenge for a mid-table spot.
The final player who is set to leave the club this season is Michy Batshuayi. Besiktas head coach Sergen Yalcin revealed over the weekend that his team has been in negotiations with Chelsea over the move of Belgian striker for quite some time. The 2016/17 Premier League title winner is set to join the Turkish champions on a season-long loan. The 27-year-old will first extend his contract by a further year, to 2023, to avoid him losing for free. It is said that Besiktas will pay a loan fee and cover the Belgium international’s full wages. Whether an option to buy will be included or not is still yet to be agreed on between the two clubs.