Chelsea set for Xavi Simons and Alejandro Garnacho transfer green light Enzo Maresca has waited for

Chelsea transfer news as the end of long-running sagas lays ahead but specific conditions have to be met in the final week.

This is what Chelsea have been waiting months for. The final week of the summer window is here and it is judgement time on several counts.

Chelsea’s business will not be determined by what happens between now and Monday, September 1 at 7pm. The bulk of their business has been completed, most of it in good time.
Unlike last year, when there were serious questions over just what the plan was in building Enzo Maresca’s squad, correct amendments look to have been made. There is added depth, more quality in key areas, and a much better feeling about the place.

There is plenty still be done before the window does close. This time, though, Chelsea are not scrambling to make window-defining transfers late on.

They are active but not in a reckless way. This week will not make or break the window. It will supplement it and tick some boxes. That is a change to 2024, when they were busy on deadline day getting transfers over the line and talking to Victor Osimhen.

This time around, there are deals that have been waiting for the final few days for a while. In order to get the best value from Manchester United for Alejandro Garnacho, letting it go down to the wire was always likely to be required.
United themselves will be aware that Chelsea are attempting to get a cut-price buy as their desperation rises. The choice between selling him for £30million (considerably less than their public demands have been set) or keeping hold and seeing him lose value from not playing is an easy one. Or so Chelsea hope.

They have been working on Garnacho’s camp all summer, enticing him and getting him on board. Assure him of their interest and that things are in hand, then strike when United start to sweat over not recouping anything and being stranded with an unwanted player.

Whether United play ball on this one remains to be seen but Chelsea have no intention of matching them and believe that the longer this drags on, the better their position comes. They will also feel that they have enough attacking options until January, at least, to get them through even if Garnacho does not come in.

The funny part of this is that all parties are aware of the situation. United know what Chelsea are doing but have exiled Garnacho and have no plans to reintegrate him. Chelsea have had an interest for over six months but never instigated an offer.

They know that without a bid, United cannot reject anything. If this does go on until the final hours, Garnacho will be prepared for it as he has committed himself to the move for a while.

Maybe Chelsea would have been more active if sales of other players had been forthcoming. They are waiting for Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson to leave for multiple reasons.

Firstly, if they do not, then Chelsea will have to bring them back into Maresca’s squad. Unlike Axel Disasi and Carney Chukwuemeka (among others before them), Chelsea have not truly pushed Jackson or Nkunku out. They are just on the sidelines for now.

The priority is to sell but both were at the Club World Cup and would be back in the group, albeit probably on the fringes, if nothing gets signed off. The game of transfer dominoes tends to wait until the end of the window.

Should either player leave then Chelsea would be able to confidently go for Garnacho or Xavi Simons. Not that finances are an issue. It is UEFA’s strict cost-balancing enforcement after Chelsea breached spending rules last season.

The club were willing to accept the fine and punishment as it allowed them to effectively form the squad that has put them back in the Champions League. However, Chelsea must come out equal, at least, on the cost of players going in and out of the squad from the knockout stages of the Conference League to the Champions League in September.

It means that whilst selling Armando Broja, Renato Veiga, Joao Felix, and loads more is good for the profitability and sustainability rules (PSRs) domestically, they do not make a dent in the UEFA squad cost as they were not registered after the group phase. Noni Madueke did count, as would Nkunku and Jackson.

Effectively, if Chelsea want to add all of their new signings to their UEFA squad for the Champions League, they will have to sell those who played in the Conference League between February and May. Otherwise, some new players could be left disappointed.

Ideally, it would not have taken this long to sort things out for Nkunku, especially. He has not had a serious role in the squad since before January and has been readily up for sale.