The £68m Chelsea transfer hijack that could help them leave Arsenal in the dust

For the most part, the biggest deals of the transfer window have happened quickly, or at least have a seemingly inevitable conclusion, in cases such as those involving Bryan Mbeumo and Viktor Gyökeres. But it’s still anyone’s guess as to where Eberechi Eze will be playing football next season – even if it isn’t likely to be Crystal Palace.

Tottenham Hotspur were linked with a bid but targeted Mohammed Kudus instead, and Arsenal are meant to be keen but progress has been non-existent while they wait to find out whether they can get hold of Real Madrid’s Rodrygo instead. That could leave the door open for Chelsea.

The Blues were linked with a bid for the England attacking midfielder towards the end of the last week, with Chelsea reporter Simon Phillips suggesting that the club had opened talks with Eze’s representatives. But given that they’ve already splashed out to sign João Pedro and Jamie Gittens, does a move even make much sense – and how likely is it to happen?

Will Chelsea sign Eberechi Eze this summer?

As it stands, none of the most reputable media outlets have reported that Chelsea are in the process of signing Eze, but the link between club and player is scarcely new – Chelsea have been reported to have the Palace man on their shortlist for some time.

There are also indications that Chelsea want another attacking player despite the arrivals of Pedro, Gittens and Liam Delap, not least because there are still plenty of holes to fill in the squad.

Noni Madueke has been sold to Arsenal, Mykhaylo Mudryk is suspended for an alleged doping violation, Raheem Sterling, João Félix and Christopher Nkunku are all unwanted and Nicolas Jackson could potentially follow them out of Stamford Bridge. Such a lengthy list of players who will either depart, be unavailable or be discarded means that there are still vacancies in attack.

And Chelsea have cash to spend. In spite of record-shattering transfer spending under the current owners, they have consistently sold players for profit and enjoy a healthy position in relation to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules. The money generated by player sales this summer, in addition to around £85m in prize money earned from their victorious Club World Cup campaign, means that a deal for Eze – which would likely be worth £68m, the reported value of his release clause – is entirely viable.

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That said, signing Eze would represent a departure from Chelsea’s usual modus operandi in the transfer market. The club prefers to sign players young and tie them down to extremely lengthy contracts to ensure that their signing have resale value, but Eze has just turned 27. Were Chelsea to buy him, he would be the oldest player they have purchased since 2022 when they bought Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kalidou Koulibaly.

Eze would, of course, offer plenty of immediate quality and can play through the middle and on the left, allowing him to potentially fill two spots. But a right-sided player may be more of a priority now that Madueke has left the club, although Cole Palmer played in that position to devastating effect during the Club World Cup final and could take up that role full-time, leaving Eze as the first-choice number ten.

A deal for Eze, then, is a genuine possibility but not necessarily one that’s likely given his age and the needs of the team – and until more media outlets report the story, it must be viewed as less than probable, especially given that Arsenal may well make a bid should they fail to land Rodrygo.

Is Eze the player that Enzo Maresca needs?

The question isn’t just whether Eze will sign for Chelsea – but also whether he should, and that will depend heavily on where they would play him in Maresca’s 4-2-3-1 formation.

If Maresca wants Cole Palmer to play through the middle, as he did through most of Chelsea’s Club World Cup run prior to the final and for most of last season, then Eze would most likely play wide left, but he isn’t necessarily a natural fit for the position given the specifics of Maresca’s system.

For most of last season, Maresca pushed his wingers out wide, using them not as inside forwards who would take up narrow starting positions and allow the full-backs to come around on the overlap, but instead asking players like Madueke and Pedro Neto to hug the touchline while the full-backs and midfielders pushed up into underlapping positions.

That may not suit Eze as well as it does a player like Neto. Eze has been at his best for club and country when plying the channels and taking up deeper starting positions rather than when pushing out onto the flanks as far as possible.

Eze certainly has the skillset to succeed in a wider role – he’s a fine crosser of the ball and his dribbling skill and ability to beat a man one-on-one are evident – but he would still be operating in a system which isn’t necessarily tailor-made for his talents.

Were he playing in a more central role with Palmer on the right flank, however, something which becomes more likely now that Madueke has left, he would likely be more comfortable and would be taking up positions in which he could play his natural game.

Much, then, hinges on whether Maresca believes Eze would be the right forward to sign – and more tangible interest in other players, including Lyon’s Malick Fofana and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, suggests that the club may be heading in a different direction this summer.

Still, the signing of Eze remains a tantalising prospect and his fluid, creative style of play suits the broader brushstrokes of Maresca’s footballing philosophy even if he isn’t necessarily a natural fit for the specifics of his system. Arsenal are perhaps a more probable destination as it stands, but Chelsea could take advantage of their cross-capital rivals’ slower progress and make a move which would bring an exciting and immensely gifted player to Stamford Bridge.