Chelsea turn to £45m Tottenham target after City-linked Olise snubs Blues and signs new Palace deal

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·17 August 2023

Chelsea turn to £45m Tottenham target after City-linked Olise snubs Blues and signs new Palace deal

Brennan Johnson battles Gabriel Martinelli.

Chelsea have reportedly added Nottingham Forest forward Brennan Johnson to their list of targets but they face competition from Tottenham Hotspur.

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The Blues have unsurprisingly been very busy this summer and the signing of Romeo Lavia from Southampton will see their spending exceed £300m.

The London outfit are not finished there as they have attempted to finalise a deal for Crystal Palace attacker Michael Olise.

The former Reading academy product grabbed 11 assists for Palace in the Premier League last season and he’s been linked with a move elsewhere this summer.

Man City have tracked him as a potential replacement for Riyad Mahrez but Chelsea activated the £35m release clause in his contract earlier this week.

It felt like it was going to be only a matter of time before Olise’s move to Chelsea was finalised but a spanner was thrown into the works when Crystal Palace made a ‘tapping-up’ complaint regarding their rivals, who ‘crossed the line in their conduct during their attempts to sign the player.’

In relation to this story, Fabrizio Romano added: ‘It’s true that Crystal Palace are not entirely happy with how the Blues have approached the Michael Olise deal. But it’s also worth reiterating that Chelsea feel they did everything correctly, behaved fine and did nothing wrong.’

Having already lost Wilfried Zaha to Crystal Palace, it would have been a major blow had Olise followed the club legend in leaving but it is now looking that he may be sticking around.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish took to social media on Thursday afternoon to reveal that “Olise has decided to commit his future to Palace and this afternoon signed a new four-year deal with the club”.

Chelsea seemingly already have their eyes on alternatives as The Guardian are reporting that they ‘have added Johnson to their list of attacking targets and have held initial talks with Nottingham Forest over a move for the winger’.

but he is ‘one of several offensive players on Chelsea’s shortlist’. The report adds.

‘They are understood to have activated Michael Olise’s £35m release clause, but it is understood the deal for the Crystal Palace winger is not certain to go through. Palace are unhappy with how Olise has been approached by Chelsea, who insist their behaviour has been above board. ‘Discussions over Johnson are at an early stage. The possibility of including players as part of a deal for the versatile Wales international have been discussed with Forest, who value the 22-year-old at about £45m.’