“Club record sale” – £65m+ needed for Chelsea to secure winger they want says top insider | OneFootball

It’s getting desperate out here with the international break still dragging on.

There is some club football this weekend, but as Chelsea were dumped out of the FA Cup they’re not involved. We have to wait until next Thursday to see Enzo Maresca’s team in action. Luckily Chelsea have given us quite a bit to talk about, beginning the break with the news that they had agreed deals to sign Dario Essugo and Geovany Quenda from Sporting CP.

According to David Ornstein, who did a Q and A for the Athletic today, there could yet be more additions. Chelsea are playing in the Club World Cup in June, and have a 35 man squad they can add players to thanks to the “exceptional transfer window” to precede that tournament which the Premier League have agreed to.

He notes their priorities are a left winger and a striker – so who might come in? Liam Delap gets a mention, and defender Dean Huijsen of Bournemouth.

“Chelsea like Huijsen a lot,” the insider notes, before pointing out that “so do plenty of other cubs.”

“His dream would be Real Madrid, but that doesn’t mean they’ll do the deal.”

A £50m release clause makes him pretty affordable given his obvious talent. On Antoine Semenyo, another Bournemouth player who Chelsea have been linked to, Ornstein says that a sum above £65m will be necessary to sign him:

“Semenyo has a lot of interest. There’s no clause so that will need to be a club record sale in excess of the £65m Spurs paid last summer.”

Chelsea will have to bend transfer rules to sign winger

Antoine Semenyo in action for AFC Bournemouth (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Chelsea will want to focus their resources, so we can see Huijsen being left out while the Blues focus on the top striker they still need.

Would a £65m+ move for Semenyo fit with Chelsea’s current transfer model?