Chelsea transfer roundup 1 January to 9 January 2022
3. Chelsea in a three-way battle for out of contract midfielder
Chelsea has made contact with the representatives of soon out of contract Marseille star Boubacar Kamara about a move to the Premier League for next season. The versatile defensive midfielder—who can also play as a centerback—could be a great signing for the club as the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger could all leave for free in a few months. This deal could be just like the one the Blues made when they signed Malang Sarr as a free agent two years ago, with the club looking to make a profit on a sale after a few loan spells, assuming the fact that he would not make it into the first team in the long run. However, the Kamara deal would be difficult to pull off as the Blues will face competition from the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
It is being reported that Bayern Munich is taking more concrete steps to sign Boubacar Kamara from Marseille. A transfer this month is not an option for the time being. Kamara prefers to move in the summer so that he can freely choose his next club. With Barcelona and Chelsea both in the conversation, it makes perfect sense as to why the Bavarian side is extra keen to make the player sign on the dotted line. Players like Corentin Tolisso and Niklas Sule are out of contract in the summer of 2022, so Kamara is a player who would cover both the spaces in the German squad.
4. Chelsea ready to send midfielder back
Multiple reports are suggesting that the Chelsea board has decided to not make the loan move of Spanish midfielder Saul Niguez into a permanent one. The Spanish international was signed on loan from Atletico Madrid with an option to make the move permanent for £30 million. Chelsea had to fight off competition from the likes of Manchester United to get Saul to sign on transfer deadline day, but the Spaniard had a dire start to his Blues career. So much so that he had to be substituted at halftime in his only two starts in the Premier League. It was crystal clear why Saul was struggling so much. The high intensity and physical nature of the game were too much for him to handle and he needed time to adapt.
Now, after a few months, you can see how much the midfielder has improved with his recent performance against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup being the best up to this point. Despite his recent improvement, the Chelsea board feels that the funds to make the loan permanent can be utilized better somewhere else. Honestly, that is very true. The Blues have a plethora of world class midfielders in N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho. The likes of Ruben Loftus Cheek and Conor Gallagher will also presumably be in the first team from next season, so signing Saul would mean hindering the growth of players like Gallagher and Billy Gilmour.