Transfer gossip: Chelsea bid £26.5m for England U21 as return for Enzo Fernandez mooted

Chelsea are immune to embarrassment as they threaten another bid for Enzo Fernandez, while they’re deep in talks with PSV over their right winger…

CHELSEA ‘CANNOT BE STOPPED’
“Situations can arise where clubs come in with an offer that cannot be stopped,” said PSV boss Ruud van Nistelrooy when asked about the future of Noni Madueke.

Unsurprisingly, it’s Chelsea chasing the England U21 international, who grew up in London and spent time in both the Tottenham and Crystal Palace academies before moving to PSV in 2018. He’s got 20 goals and 14 assists in 79 appearances for the Eredivisie side since breaking into the first team in 2020, playing predominantly on the right wing.

The Blues have reportedly been eyeing Madueke for some time and the Daily Mail now claim they have ‘stepped up their efforts’ and have made an opening bid of £26.5m for the 20-year-old.

The report claims he is well known to Potter, with recruitment analyst Kyle Macaulay and Director of Global Talent and Transfers Paul Winstanley identifying Madueke as a target before they followed the manager from Brighton to Chelsea.

Madueke would join fellow forwards David Datro Fofana and Joao Felix who have already made the move to Stamford Bridge this month.

ENZO RETURN
Chelsea’s new transfer team appear immune to embarrassment. Transfer hijacks aside, which make it look as though they’re scuring gossip columns like the rest of us, the Enzo Fernandez debacle didn’t suggest a level of professionalism one might expect for such an expensively assembled team of transfer gurus.

Benfica boss Roger Schmidt said they “disrespected” the club by making Enzo “crazy” having said they would meet his £106m release clause when the Blues in fact had no plans to do so. Benfica told them where to go.

And yet, according to The Telegraph, Chelsea have ‘not ruled out making a second bid’ for the World Cup winner. We suggest unless that bid is £106m they really shouldn’t bother. That report claims Brighton’s Moises Caicedo is another potential recruit for the Blues.

TROSSARD ‘HUMILIATION’
Oh, Leandro. He was the belle of the ball a couple of months ago – scoring goals and catching eyes. Now he’s been banished from the Brighton first team and interest in him has dimmed.

Newcastle were thought to be keen heading into the January window, but were unsure over signing a 28-year-old as they look to land younger targets and it appears the Belgium international’s tiff with manager Roberto De Zerbi has resulted in the Magpies backing off entirely.

The Daily Mail claim ‘character is a huge factor’ for recruiters at Newcastle and reports of Trossard storming out of training don’t scream team player.

His agent has a released a statement claiming Trossard feels “humiliated” and that a January transfer is the “most convenient solution”.

Tottenham (and Chelsea, obviously) are still thought to be keen on Trossard, whose contract extension was triggered by Brighton last week, meaning he has 18 months left on his deal at the Amex.