Will Chelsea spend big again this summer?
Since being taken over by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital three years ago, the Blues have signed over 35 senior first-team players for in excess of £1bn, but are showing no signs of slowing down.
The Blues have already completed the signing of Liam Delap from Ipswich for £30m, meaning he will be eligible to feature at the Club World Cup, with Enzo Maresca’s side kicking off their campaign against LAFC next Monday.
Before that match in Atlanta, could Chelsea sign another young attacker?
Chelsea's search for a new wide-attacker
BlueCo are incredibly busy trying to improve the squad before the Club World Cup gets underway with Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan reportedly closing in on a move to Stamford Bridge.
Yet, he’s not the only player who could arrive before Chelsea’s American adventure.
According to a report by RMC Sport, Chelsea have agreed personal terms with Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens on a whopping seven-year contract.
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This comes after David Ornstein of the Athletic reported that the Blues have submitted an official bid, although Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sports Deutschland claims that Chelsea’s initial bid of €29.5m was “rejected”, with die Schwarzgelben “demanding” closer to £51m.
Jacob Steinberg of the Guardian has previously documented that adding a ‘right-footed left-winger’ to their squad, having previously assessed Nico Williams and Alejandro Garnacho, but Gittens has emerged as the first-choice target.
So, it appears to be just a matter of time until this deal gets done, although they only have until 7pm (BST) on Tuesday to finalise the transfer, if Gittens is going to feature at the Club World Cup.
How Jamie Gittens could unleash Liam Delap
Neel Shelat of Total Football Analysis outlines how Delap has all the attributes to be a top-class penalty box poacher, so why would Gittens’ arrival be the dream signing for him?
Well, Felix Johnston describes the 20-year-old winger as “electric”, praising his “variation with crosses” and ability to make threatening “back post” runs.
Meantime, Lebohang Mwamuka of Breaking the Lines believes Gittens has the ability to become a ‘regular creator from wide areas’, given that he is “strong with both feet… dynamic” and possesses “remarkable dribbling’.
Jacek Kulig of Talent Football Scout agrees, believing Gittens’ ‘potential is extremely high’, noting that his primary strengths are dribbling, ‘decision-making and movement’.
So, let’s analyse Gittens’ statistics in the Bundesliga this season.
Minutes
1,776
149th
Goals
8
32nd
Assists
3
71st
Progressive carries
113
4th
Attempted take-ons
171
1st
Successful take-ons
77
2nd
Carries into penalty area
63
1st
As the table outlines, there are few better dribblers in the Bundesliga than Gittens, ranked first for attempted take-ons and carries into the opposition penalty area, behind only Liverpool-bound Florian Wirtz for successful take-ons.
In fact, across Europe’s big five leagues, the Englishman ranks seventh for attempted take-ons as well as seventh in the Champions League for the same metric. Thus, Gittens’ dribbling and creative abilities would surely get the best out of centre-forward Delap.
The duo have actually played together on nine occasions before, seven of which have been with England’s U21s, while they were briefly teammates in Manchester City’s academy too, with Delap assisting Gittens for a goal against Liverpool’s U18s in September 2019.
Thus, if the pair are reunited in West London later this summer, they could form quite the devastating attacking duo.
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