Chelsea are heading into their final weekend of pre-season preparations ahead of the new Premier League season.
The Blues will face Bayer Leverkusen, managed by former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, on Friday before facing AC Milan on Sunday.
While preparations are well underway for the upcoming campaign, there is still work to be done in the transfer market as Enzo Maresca looks to continue the overhaul of his squad.
Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens, Willian Estevao, Dario Essugo and Jorrel Hato have all arrived but more additions are expected.
In that regard, Alejandro Garnacho and Xavi Simons are the two names that will not go away for Chelsea this summer transfer window.
football.london understands talks with RB Leipzig over the latter took place on Tuesday despite the Bundesliga club’s focus being on selling Benjamin Sesko. Insiders have said that Simons already has a broad agreement on personal terms with the Blues.
Garnacho is also said to be keen on joining Chelsea, who still have the winger on their shortlist after not ruling out signing another left-sided forward. football.london have now rounded up the latest reporting on these two in-demand transfer targets this summer.
Simons ‘total agreement’
According to the Italian outlet Sport Mediaset, Chelsea and Leipzig have concluded a deal worth approximately £60million. Their journalist, Orazio Accomando, claims total agreement between the two clubs, adding that the transfer only needs finalising from a bureaucratic perspective.
football.london says: Talks continued today and are still all positive with confidence remaining that a deal will be done despite Leipzig wanting a replacement for Simons. Sesko signing for Manchester United would free up focus at Leipzig to get an agreement with the Blues in place, as that appears a faster-moving situation at this stage, with weeks of the window remaining.
Simons would be a dream addition to Maresca’s squad and should make an impact in the upcoming campaign.
Garnacho approach ‘likely’
The Guardian claims that Chelsea are ‘likely’ to make an official approach for Garnacho despite a reluctance to pay the £50million that United are said to be asking for. However, the Argentina international is said to be their priority alongside Simons, with their attempts to sign both set to increase.
football.london says: Chelsea have yet to bid for Garnacho and could move late in the window to do a deal on more favourable terms. The Blues did something similar with Jadon Sancho a year ago and may look to repeat that with another move on transfer deadline day for the out-of-favour Garnacho.
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