*Chelsea* *Has anything happened over the past week?* In terms of completed deals, yes. Chelsea beat competition from several clubs to sign Liam Delap from Ipswich Town for £30m. Chelsea have had a bid rejected by Borussia Dortmund for Jamie Gittens, but significantly, agreed terms with the winger over a seven-year contract. Borussia Dortmund value the 20-year-old at £50m, but that is above Chelsea’s valuation for a player who does not fit into Niko Kovac’s preferred style of play. The Bundesliga club believe there will be more competition for Gittens’ signature later in the summer, which is why they have hopes of getting a higher sum. However, Chelsea do not see how this can be the case if he does not start regularly at the Club World Cup. Chelsea have also made an enquiry for Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, whose representatives have told Milan he wants to leave. There has been no official offer from Chelsea, but they have communicated that they will pay a maximum of €15m. Chelsea see the sale of Christian Pulisic to Milan in 2023 for €20m as part of their reasoning. The U.S. international also had just 12 months left on his contract, but was six years younger. Pulisic also plays in a position that commands higher fees. Milan value Maignan at higher than €15m, irrespective of his contract situation, as he is their No 1 and France’s first-choice goalkeeper. Meanwhile, Chelsea decided not to trigger the option to sign Jadon Sancho permanently from Manchester United. Defender Mamadou Sarr has completed his £14m move from Strasbourg, a deal that was agreed back in January. Can we now expect a pause in business ahead of the Club World Cup? Not necessarily. The market reopens on June 16, the same day as their opening fixture against Los Angeles FC, and that gives Chelsea more time to sign players for the knockout phase, should they get there. The window to register new players at the tournament runs from June 27 to July 3. It is one of the reasons Chelsea have not felt under pressure to get all of their business done by June 10. When a transfer window is shut, that does not mean negotiations between clubs cannot take place. Chelsea showed that in March by agreeing deals in advance with Sporting CP for Geovany Quenda and Dario Essugo. The latter officially completed the switch last week and will be competing with Maresca’s side in the U.S. Quenda is going to spend next season on loan at Sporting CP before joining Chelsea next summer. *What positions/players are they looking at?* With Mykhailo Mudryk still provisionally suspended for failing a doping test and Sancho not being signed, Chelsea are looking at buying one or two wide players. Apart from Gittens, others on the list include Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho and West Ham United’s Mohammed Kudus. Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams has already been ruled out for a variety of reasons. Chelsea have made an enquiry for Eintracht Frankfurt forward Hugo Ekitike, but they are not prepared to pay the current asking price of €100m. A centre-back and goalkeeper will be considered if a good enough player becomes available for the right price. This has been shown by Chelsea’s interest in Huijsen and Maignan, respectively. *Which players could be leaving?* Keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who joined Chelsea from Athletic Bilbao for £71.6m in 2018, is on the verge of completing a £5m move to Arsenal. Backup goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli is wanted by Manchester City, having made just one appearance in four years at Chelsea. Chelsea are in talks with City in view of him being able to join in time for the Club World Cup. Many more are expected to follow. There is a long list involving most of the players who were loaned out last season (not Andrey Santos) and some of the current squad. This includes Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Armando Broja, Carney Chukwuemeka, Axel Disasi and Renato Veiga. Christopher Nkunku is also a player who could leave. Chelsea do not intend to take all the players to the U.S., so there will be no ‘bomb squad’ out there while departures are being organised. more here - https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAKVVn9MF8rhu8mkv2i