A national newspaper has lifted the lid on Chelsea’s multiple approaches to sign a £67 million star quite recently, with BlueCo not exactly afraid to splash the cash on major signings for new head coach Enzo Maresca.
Chelsea spent around £200m on 13 summer signings
Maresca was well and truly backed ahead of his first full season in charge at Stamford Bridge, with Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali giving their green light for Chelsea to invest around £200 million on 13 new additions to the squad.
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Joao Felix, Mike Penders, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Marc Guiu, Renato Veiga, Estevao Willian, Filip Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Aaron Anselmino, Caleb Wiley, Omari Kellyman, Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho all agreed moves to Chelsea before deadline day on August 30, with a couple making serious impressions already.
Sancho is off the mark with two assists in the Premier League, while Neto bagged his first Chelsea goal against Barrow in the EFL Cup earlier this week. While Felix is yet to start a game for Chelsea, he did score off the bench in his second debut for the club – which came in a 6-2 demolition of Wolves at Molineux.
Jorgensen joined the backlog of Chelsea keepers with a glowing reputation as well. The 22-year-old Dane spent the whole of 2023/2024 as Villarreal’s number one shot-stopper, and his performances did enough to impress Chelsea so much that they splashed nearly £21 million on his signing from the La Liga side.
He put pen to paper on a long-term seven-year deal at Cobham, and Maresca suggested that Jorgensen could oust current number one Robert Sanchez if he performs better than the Spaniard in training.
“Even if you probably don’t believe me, I judge and I take the first XI depending on how they work every day,” said Maresca. “For all of them, if they are bad in training sessions and they don’t train with intensity, they are not going to play.
Brighton (home)
September 28
Nottingham Forest (home)
October 6
Liverpool (away)
October 20
Newcastle (home)
October 27
Man United (away)
November 3
“And if they don’t play Sunday in the Premier League, and think they are going to play Thursday, but if from Sunday to Thursday they don’t train well, they are not going to play in the Premier League and they are not going to play on Thursday – because Chelsea is a demanding club.
“You need to work hard, to fight until the end to get your place and give 100 per cent. If you think that I am going to give you a chance without working hard, forget about that.”
Newspaper shares multiple Chelsea approaches to sign Maignan
However, according to Corriere dello Sport, Chelsea could’ve brought in an alternative.
Indeed, £67 million AC Milan keeper Mike Maignan was on their radar in the summer, as well as Jorgensen. Chelsea actually made contact over Maignan in 2023 as well, with Corriere explaining that Chelsea wanted him this year too.
The Italian newspaper share that Chelsea made multiple enquiries over signing Maignan, before they presumably settled on Jorgensen. The 29-year-old would’ve been quite the competition for Sanchez considering his form in the last three years, but his hefty price tag was probably a bit much for yet another shot-stopper.