Xavi Simons signs, £98m transfers, Garnacho bid – Chelsea dream final month of summer window

To the surprise of nobody, Chelsea have had a busy summer window. They dominated the early weeks ahead of and during the Club World Cup. That was out of necessity as well as planning.

As the months went on, Chelsea have played a back seat role compared to Liverpool and even Arsenal, dropping in to spend big on new strikers and attackers. It has still been an extremely active period for the Blues.

They have moved to the front of the queue to sign Xavi Simons, a deal that did not come onto anyone’s radar until it was already relatively advanced. They have also acted on interest in Jorrel Hato to find their much-needed left-back cover.

Enzo Maresca, who will be enjoying his final weekend off before a condensed pre-season starts on Monday, has a stronger squad available to him. It will be vital given the added challenge of Champions League football to come.

But with one month left to go until the window slams shut again, what are Chelsea still aiming to do? And what does it look like in a best-case scenario?

Here, football.london takes a look at how Maresca and Co. will be hoping things play out before September 1.

Finish Simons and Hato

Chelsea have done the hard work on these two, moving quickly to get two talented young Dutch players in key positions into their sights. Hato appears to be the closest to completion with a deal agreed and the formalities now expected soon enough.

For Simons, there has been a bit of a delay. Hashing out a price with RB Leipzig has been harder for their prize possession. Given they are also fielding offers for Benjamin Sesko, Chelsea will want to get this done before any other transfer could impact proceedings.

Should both come in, as the direction of travel indicates will happen, then it would be a serious double swoop for Chelsea. Simons and Hato are exactly the sort of players that the new ownership have been targeting with quality, potential, and a platform for them to arrive in.

It may well end up costing the best part of £98million for the pair but if that can provide competition, rest, and rotation for Marc Cucurella, Levi Colwill, and Cole Palmer, then it is money well spent. Chelsea won’t want to hang around in getting them in ahead of friendlies next week against Bayer Leverkusen and Milan.

Sort the sales

With less than 30 days left of the window, Chelsea have at least 16 players who still need moves away from the club. There are possibly more.

Marc Guiu and Armando Broja look set to depart, with the latter heading out permanently. That is relatively small fry compared to the other work remaining.

Axel Disasi needs a new home whilst Renato Veiga’s failed move to Atletico Madrid has left him in limbo again. Carney Chukwuemeka has been in talks with Borussia Dortmund and Leipzig over a return to Germany but nothing is finished.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has suitors but still faces an uncertain few weeks. Finding options for Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling, on their huge wages and several years of disappointing form, is proving as tricky as it looked on paper.

Christopher Nkunku should, in theory, be easier to move on but is yet to draw a bid. David Datro Fofana and Lesley Ugochukwu also have no place in Maresca’s plans.

Onto the loans and there is a question over who will be Chelsea’s third-choice goalkeeper. Gabriel Slonina seems to have that spot but will struggle to develop as a senior player if he isn’t getting minutes. Aaron Anselmino also needs game time having only been in training for the past seven months since being recalled from Boca Juniors.

Academy trio Tyrique George, Alfie Gilchrist, and Omari Kellyman all have their own aims to take care of. Josh Acheampong could be included in the same camp but is more likely to have a serious senior role.

Then there are the Under-21s graduates who are hoping to take their next steps in the game. These include Sam Rak-Sakyi, Kiano Dyer, Alex Matos, Jimmy-Jay Morgan, and Ronnie Stutter.

There are more who could be named here as well. The long and short of it is, Chelsea have a lot of outgoing business to conduct and not much time to fit it all in. The consequences of doing so were shown last summer as exits dragged on. They won’t want to be in the same position again but are running out of days to change that.

Garnacho and Jackson

One player not listed about is Nicolas Jackson. Chelsea are not pushing to sell him but would be open to offers should they come in at the right price. If they were to keep Jackson and start the season with three players able to play up front then it would be one of the most contested but strong areas of the pitch.

However, sell Jackson (for a fee that would surely rise to over £70million) and there would be a question. How do Chelsea replace him? And do they do it directly with another striker?

Hugo Ekitike has gone. Alexander Isak is not on their radar or within affordability at this point. Chelsea do have Joao Pedro and Liam Delap but is that really enough for four competitions?

Nick Woltemade had been a mooted target earlier in the window but that has gone cold. Sesko has not been pursued this year as he was last summer.

The slightly strange nature of Jackson’s future is that out of Newcastle United and Manchester United, whoever does not end up with Sesko is surely going to find Jackson near the top of their remaining options. It is understandable why.

If United get Sesko then it could open up the door for an even cheaper move for Alejandro Garnacho. The longer the window goes on and he is still at Old Trafford, the stronger Chelsea’s position becomes, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him end up in London.

Jackson and Garnacho are not directly tied in this situation, and Chelsea ending up with both cannot be discounted, it would make for one of the most versatile and varied attacks around, but due to the clubs involved, there is a focus on what happens between everyone involved.