German side open door for player Chelsea would love to sell the most – but there’s a catch | OneFootball

Chelsea’s spending fun goes on – the Blues are now being linked with Xavi Simons and Jorrel Hato pretty strongly. We expect both deals to happen within the next week.

That adds yet more quality and cover in defence and attack. But it also increases the importance of making some significant sales before the window closes. It’s been a good week on that front too – Noni Madueke and Djordje Petrovic have both left for good fees in the last 10 days, but there are bigger fish to fry.

The players with the highest wages – Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell, are still in the squad, with no obvious exit just yet.

Leverkusen interest in Sterling not dead yet

Enzo Maresca teaches Raheem Sterling on the pitch.

Sterling at least has some interest, and today we’ve had an interesting exclusive update from CaughtOffside on the subject.

They claim that Bayer Leverkusen are interested in signing Sterling on loan, with Chelsea paying a large chunk of his vast wages to make it happen.

Chelsea are holding out for €25m for a permanent move for the England winger, but his age, wages and recent form make that an increasingly unlikely target.

Leverkusen could be persuaded to reopen Sterling file if Chelsea open their mind to a loan move

We’re not convinced by the Leverkusen interest in Sterling – and the well connected German insider Florian Plettenberg actually shut down any talk of a Sterling move last night.

But perhaps a loan move could persuade them to reconsider? Plettenberg’s description made it seems like they’re very interested in the player, they just don’t want to commit to the finances of a permanent move.

Of course, like his Arsenal loan last year, it doesn’t solve anything for Chelsea, just kicks the can down the line. But if there are no other options, come the end of August, all bets are off.