Chelsea handed Jamie Gittens transfer lifeline as Borussia Dortmund leave door open for future deal | OneFootball

Blues missed out on a deal for the winger before the first summer transfer window closed

Borussia Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl has left the door open for Chelsea with regards to a future deal for Jamie Gittens.

Chelsea were in talks to sign Gittens in time to be registered in their squad for the Club World Cup tournament which gets underway in the USA this weekend.

However, the 20-year-old was still a Dortmund player after the first of this summer’s transfer windows closed at 7pm BST on Tuesday.

This is because after having a £29.5m opening bid rejected, the Conference League winners reportedly returned with two further offers, but none matched Dortmund’s apparent asking price of £55m.

As a result, Gittens could even come up against Chelsea having been included in the Dortmund squad for the Club World Cup.

That said, all is not lost in terms of a potential transfer taking place at some point in the summer, especially with Kehl insisting the two clubs remain on good terms when discussing the decision to reject offers.

He said: "There was contact with Chelsea FC, who got in touch again yesterday afternoon. We spoke again on the phone and exchanged expectations and different ideas.

"In the end, we didn't come to an agreement because we have different ideas about the player's current value. But the talks were very, very respectful. We have been in very good dialogue with Chelsea for many years.

"We are happy Jamie will now be part of our team at the Club World Cup and are delighted he is staying.

"I'm not responsible for the late offer - but, of course, I still have to deal with it and that's what we've done.

"We looked into it very seriously, but in the end we also made a decision for ourselves.

"It's still absolutely OK that Chelsea made this attempt. And, once again, we are in good dialogue. Let's see how things develop in the future."