Chelsea demand controversial transfer answer as wasteful £39m Enzo Maresca agreement reached

Enzo Maresca is relishing the opportunity to influence Chelsea’s transfers this summer as he goes about working alongside the sporting directors (Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart) in a way that Mauricio Pochettino found tough. Less than one month into his tenure in charge and it has been all change for the Italian.

“Absolutely yes, because its difficult to judge the past I was not here,” he said when quizzed on his new role in recruitment. “The only thing I can say is when you go in the same direction it’s much easier for everyone.”

Pochettino felt that he was being given tools that weren’t up the challenge he had been set. With Maresca already receiving a new centre-back and former player in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, he can have no such complaints so far.

But the final weeks of the window will give plenty of insight into just how things work at Stamford Bridge. There is still work to be done getting deals done for players going both in and out of the club, with Maresca keen to get a handful of new options available to him.

Chelsea will also be looking to cut down the wider squad in order to leave him a manageable group for the season ahead. So much to do but increasingly less time to do it in.

Here, football.london has the latest on just two of the biggest stories around the club.

READ MORE: Chelsea transfer news LIVE

READ MORE: Chelsea now have final £51m transfer ultimatum after Raheem Sterling replacement deal confirmed

Jorgensen agreement reached

As was Maresca’s desire, Chelsea have agreed personal terms with a new goalkeeper and are closing in on the signing of Villarreal’s Filip Jorgensen. The 22-year-old has reportedly made Chelsea his preferred team this summer despite interest from Marseille.

After an initial bid of £17million, negotiations are still ongoing over a price, with the Spanish side thought to be holding out for £22million at least. He has a release clause of £38million. Jorgensen also only signed a new long-term contract at Villarreal last month.

football.london says: So no matter what happens with Jorgensen, and he appears to be the one Chelsea are going to get, he will cost more than Djordje Petrovic did last year (£14million). If Villarreal get their way he will come close to matching the £25million spent on Robert Sanchez.

And all of this to not have a defined No.1. Petrovic was impressive in his first season in England and had room for improvement. Chelsea will hope that they can spin a quick profit on him and have reportedly already been offering him out. As for Sanchez, despite largely failing to establish himself as a Premier League-level ‘keeper, he will get the chance to go again.

For Maresca it will give him someone able to play with the ball at their feet but it feels like a wasted year given Chelsea moved on from both Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy in 2023. 12 months on and they are no closer to finding the goalkeeper they want.

This whole process has been wildly inefficient and sums up the worst of Winstanley and Stewart’s reign. Signing a brand new goalkeeper for a coach they have appointed wasn’t part of the plan but here they are anyway. Enormously puzzling and still leaving questions rather than answers.

Lukaku terms still apart

If woefully inefficient is the order of the day then it’s only right for the latest installment of the Romelu Lukaku saga. £97.5million in 2021, the Belgian is looking for his third club since joining Chelsea and is proving to be just as hard to move as ever.

The interest is once again there and Napoli do want to get a deal done for the 31-year-old – especially as they see him as a replacement for Victor Osimhen – but the finances unsurprisingly aren’t. Having been after £38million at the start of the window it is reported in Italy that Antonio Conte’s side are not willing to stretch that far.

Napoli are holding out to pay just £20.9million instead. There is a big disagreement currently and still a big gap to overcome. All parties want to get the deal done though and it is said that they will continue to work towards it.

football.london says: Chelsea just need to bite the bullet and get this done. Nobody benefits from having Lukaku in limbo again and the longer it drags on the worse it will be.

However, it’s easy to see why they are at least not caving here. Napoli will hope to soon have a big crate of money on their lawn when Paris Saint-Germain stump up for Osimhen and then there is no hiding. It’s all a big game right now and Chelsea are playing it.

What they won’t want to do is push Napoli away so far that they go elsewhere to find alternatives. As long as Lukaku is deemed their man then having it go deep won’t change too much. Chelsea know they could count on desperation in the final weeks. Really though, ending this partnership has to be the way forward.