Chelsea

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Atletico Madrid have expressed an interest in Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson this summer.

The Spanish club's interest in the 25-year-old has lasted throughout the summer but is conditional on either Julian Alvarez or Alexander Sorloth leaving.

There is also a question about whether Atletico would sign Jackson on a permanent transfer, with Chelsea's asking price publicly known to be £65m. They would be likely to seek a loan with option move.

Premier League rivals Aston Villa remain a more viable option, though alternatives continue to be considered by both Chelsea and Jackson's representatives.

The Blues signed Jackson from Villarreal for £32m in 2023 before he moved on loan to Bayern Munich last summer for a £14.3m loan fee - though the Bundesliga club's obligation to buy was never triggered because he didn't make enough appearances.

Jackson was left out of Chelsea's 3-1 win over Real Sociedad on Saturday.

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Chelsea have had the positive debut of £117m club record signing Morgan Rogers and excitement around new manager Xabi Alonso, but the same old issue persists: the size of the squad.

Every summer since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital bought the club, there has been a fire sale of players which, this summer, has been made worse by the shock outcome of failing to qualify for Europe.

Chelsea have 40 players on their books and, by Tuesday, will need to sell a player every day to reduce the squad to 25, with only 15 days left to do so.

Alonso has already spoken about the need to reduce his defensive options from nine to "four or five", while Chelsea will carry only three strikers into the new season, expected to be Joao Pedro, Danny Welbeck and probably Emmanuel Emegha.

Although five players were left out of the 3-1 win over Real Sociedad on Saturday because of fitness-related issues, Chelsea also omitted Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap, Tosin Adarabioyo, Mamadou Sarr and Mykhailo Mudryk, all of whom had previously been involved in pre-season.

Benoit Badiashile is expected to complete a move to Napoli this week, but Marc Guiu, Axel Disasi and David Datro Fofana continue to train away from the squad with no obvious suitors.

There is clearly a plan under Alonso, with a settled core of senior players, but Chelsea will not want those on the fringes to affect the atmosphere because, as former manager Jose Mourinho said in his recent docuseries, "one bad orange can spoil the rest".

What do you think will happen at Chelsea between now and the end of the transfer window?

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Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea value Pedro Neto at nearly £100m amid reported interest from Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal.

It is a reflection of the high fees across the transfer market, including the £117m Chelsea paid to Aston Villa for Morgan Rogers and the £145m asking price from Paris St-Germain for winger Bradley Barcola.

Portugal international Neto, 26, started against Real Sociedad on Saturday when others linked with moves away were completely left out.

Manchester City are keen to sign Portugal winger Pedro Neto, 26, from Chelsea but face competition from Al-Hilal. (Talksport), external

Nottingham Forest have joined the race to sign Liam Delap, with the 23-year-old English striker keen to stay in the Premier League. (Talksport), external

Everton lead the chase for Delap, with Chelsea having already told him that he can leave the club this summer. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea still have 40 senior professionals on their books, so Xabi Alonso was forced to leave out a host of players for Saturday's friendly win over Real Sociedad.

Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap, Mykhailo Mudryk, Tosin Adarabioyo and Mamadou Sarr were all omitted despite featuring in previous pre-season matches.

All are either available for transfer or attracting loan or permanent interest. Mudryk and Sarr are targeting Premier League loan moves, Jackson is available for £65m, Delap for £50m, while Tosin has interest from Benfica and Marseille.

Alonso did not hold a media conference to explain his team selection, but multiple sources said it was his decision to leave them out.

New signings Emmanuel Emegha, Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson, along with recalled loanee Aaron Anselmino, were also absent, potentially through injury.

Unlike the likes of Delap and Mudryk, these four were sitting near the squad just behind the bench alongside third-choice goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe.

There was further intrigue as Fernandez played, while new midfield signing Valentin Barco, who joined from Strasbourg, did not get on the pitch for his first appearance.

It remains a significant challenge for Chelsea to trim their squad, with the club still needing to offload at least 15 players and only 17 days remaining in the transfer window to get down to 25 players.

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

It took Morgan Rogers only seven minutes to score his first goal in a Chelsea shirt in Saturday's 3-1 friendly win over Real Sociedad as he reacted quickest after Alex Remiro saved Joao Pedro's initial header.

The £117m club record signing from Aston Villa initially looked sharp and linked well with Cole Palmer and Pedro in Chelsea's front three.

Within 10 minutes of his debut, supporters were already chanting his name.

However, it was understandable that Rogers faded as the match wore on, given he had trained for less than a week since returning from holiday before his 62-minute outing.

Beyond Rogers, Joao Pedro has been the star of Chelsea's pre-season.

In this outing he headed Chelsea back in front in the 47th minute before adding a side-footed finish 30 minutes later to seal victory after Sociedad had equalised just before half-time through Jon Mikel Aramburu's volley.

Chelsea lost control towards the end of the first half and looked vulnerable, but they were much improved after the break.

Joao Pedro has scored eight goals in seven pre-season matches and led the line with Rogers and Palmer operating behind him.

Alonso offered a glimpse of the 3-4-2-1 formation he could use at Fulham in Chelsea's Premier League opener as he took charge of a match at Stamford Bridge for the first time.

It featured Robert Sanchez as the first-choice goalkeeper, with Wesley Fofana, new signing Maxence Lacroix and Levi Colwill forming a back three - from right to left.

Pedro Neto operated at right wing-back and Marco Palestra on the left, while captain Reece James and Moises Caicedo lined up in midfield behind the front three.

There was also a debut from substitute wing-back Pep Chavarria, although a number of notable players were absent.

Of course, Alonso insists he won't be wedded to either a back three or four but it was this system used as Chelsea beat AC Milan 3-0 a week ago.

Image source, Getty Images

Xabi Alonso managed at Stamford Bridge for the first time as Chelsea concluded their pre-season with a 3-1 over his former side Real Sociedad.

Record-breaking summer signing Morgan Rogers opened the scoring from coose range before Jon Aramburu leveled with a fine strike from the edge of the box on the stroke of half-time.

Joao Pedro put the Blues back in front just after the break with a back post header from a Reece James cross before the games' major talking point.

Substitute Enzo Fernandez was booed by sections of the crowd with Chelsea set to keep the midfielder after no club elected to reach their £120m valuation before Friday's deadline.

Pedro made the win safe late on with a fine finish across the goalkeeper after being played through by Malo Gusto.

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

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Chelsea finished 10th in the Premier League 10 years ago but incredibly were champions of England just a year later under new manager Antonio Conte.

After finishing in the same position last season, with no European football again and a new manager in Xabi Alonso, can the Blues repeat the feat?

Chelsea's Premier League record in 2025-26 is almost identical to when they finished mid-table under interim manager Guus Hiddink a decade ago.

With just one more goal scored and one more conceded, they finished with the same goal difference and just two points more than they did in 2015-16.

Few would have imagined back then that after finishing 31 points behind champions Leicester City and below the likes of Southampton, West Ham and Stoke, Chelsea's players would be the ones lifting the Premier League trophy the following season.

After starting the campaign playing a back four, a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal in just their sixth game saw Conte switch his side to a back three. The impact was tremendous as they won their next 13 games in a row.

It's a tactical switch that the Blues could make this season as well under new manager Alonso, given that his Bayer Leverkusen side won the Bundesliga unbeaten in 2023-24 playing three at the back.

Improving the club's points tally by a whopping 43 points again is undoubtedly a huge ask for Alonso's squad, given that it is the biggest points increase that any side has achieved to win the title in Premier League history.

But they may not need to.

While Arsenal will likely mount a stronger title defence than Leicester City, the Gunners' points tally last season was the second-lowest to win the Premier League since Claudio Ranieri's side 10 years ago.

The bar to become champions has dropped in the last couple of seasons from the dizzying demands of the Guardiola-Klopp era - where even 97 points wasn't enough in 2018-19 - so Chelsea might not need to reach the 93 points they achieved under Conte.

Read the full article here

Emlyn Begley
BBC Sport journalist

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Chelsea set a deadline of Friday at 17:00 BST for offers for Manchester City target Enzo Fernandez, who they value at £120m.

The potential move would see the Argentina midfielder link up again with new City boss Enzo Maresca, who was formerly his manager at Chelsea.

A potential deal for Fernandez relies on City selling Rodri, officially the best player at the 2026 World Cup among numerous other accolades, to Barcelona. City are not planning to sign Fernandez if he stays.

The defensive midfielder has been a crucial part of City's success in recent years, helping them win the 2022-23 Treble - including scoring the winner in the Champions League final against Inter Milan.

The 30-year-old has played 298 times, lifting a total of four league titles, plus several cups - and winning the Ballon d'Or.

Rodri wants to return to his native Spain and join Barcelona - with Real Madrid having dropped out of the chase - and City are asking for 80m euros (£68.4m).

But Barca's opening bid for a player out of contract next summer was only £38.5m.

BBC Sport's chief football news reporter Simon Stone says the Rodri and Fernandez deals happening are dependent on each other - but do not need to go through at the same time.

If City knew Rodri was going it would enable them to make a bid for Fernandez.

And it is possible he could even sign before Rodri is ready to play again after a minor back procedure.

Maresca is clearly a huge fan of Fernandez, having made him Chelsea captain when Reece James was injured.

And he played the Argentine in 79 of his 92 games in charge.

Fernandez is by nature a defensive midfielder - but Maresca played him further forward many times last season when Cole Palmer was injured - leading to him scoring a career-best 15 goals.

That means there are several places Fernandez could fit into Maresca's City team.

Read more about a potentially pivotal day here

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea are in talks with Strasbourg over a permanent move for Omari Kellyman.

The 20-year-old remains highly regarded at Stamford Bridge, but a transfer that includes a buy-back clause is being viewed as a way to aid his development after an injury-hit period following his £19m move from Aston Villa in 2024.

Kellyman completed last season on loan at Cardiff City without injury, but his minutes had to be carefully managed after a series of hamstring problems since leaving Villa Park.

Strasbourg, also owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital through parent company BlueCo, are seen as a club where Kellyman can take the next step in his development after a series of setbacks.

It would be the latest of more than a dozen moves between the clubs since BlueCo bought Strasbourg in 2023, a year after acquiring Chelsea.