£40m star agrees to join Chelsea this week

Chelsea’s opening Premier League match is under three weeks away, yet it doesn’t appear as though Enzo Maresca is finished with his transfer business.

Despite adding plenty of talent to his already bloated squad, including the likes of Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens, the Italian is still on the hunt for more attacking players.

Over the previous few weeks, Tyler Dibling, Karim Adeyemi and even Real Madrid starlet Goncalo Garcia have all been linked with moves to Stamford Bridge.

While initial links have been established, nothing concrete has been made regarding any of these three players as of yet.

All of Maresca’s attention is being taken up by the potential transfer of Dutchman Xavi Simons.

The RB Leipzig starlet is edging close to a move to the Blues, and given his performances in the Bundesliga since the summer of 2023, could he be the final piece of the attacking jigsaw for the club?

Any move could potentially go through at some point this week, but what exactly will the former PSG sensation bring to Chelsea?

Why Chelsea are trying to sign Xavi Simons

On Sunday, journalist Ben Jacobs gave an update on X regarding the club’s pursuit of the attacking midfielder.

“Chelsea advancing talks with Xavi Simons. Terms now broadly in place,” said Jacobs. “Club-to-club talks ongoing. Chelsea expected to place a first formal offer soon after verbal discussions over numbers. Talks described as positive.”

If all goes to plan, Maresca could be welcoming Simons to Stamford Bridge sooner rather than later, and it will give him more firepower.

The playmaker could cost Chelsea a reported £70m, but on the surface, this could be money well spent by the London outfit.

The Blues return to the Champions League this season for the first time since 2022/23. As such, signing someone who can make a difference in this competition makes perfect sense.

Step forward, Simons. When compared to his positional peers in the Champions League last season, the Dutch starlet was sublime across a range of performance metrics.

Not only did he rank in the top 9% for successful take-ons per 90 (1.88), but the 22-year-old also ranked in the top 2% for shot-creating actions (5.91) and in the top 11% for progressive carries (3.22) in Europe’s premier club competition.

With ambitions heightened ahead of European competition next term due to the club’s success at the Club World Cup this summer, signing Simons would give Maresca a chance of taking his team deep in the tournament.

Given that João Félix seems to be moving on in the next few days, with Chelsea recouping the same fee that they paid for him a year ago, there is space for Simons to come in.

Despite his obvious strengths and his growth potential, do the Blues really need to make him a priority signing?

Indeed, it’s arguable that their defence needs more work ahead of the Premier League campaign.

Chelsea closing in on another signing

The links to attacking players seem to grow day by day, but there haven’t been as many defenders linked with a move to the club.

One player whom the club have shown plenty of interest in, however, is Ajax starlet Jorrel Hato.

According to Fabrizio Romano, the Blues “will be in direct contact” with Hato regarding a potential deal. Romano also went on to state that Hato “only wants Chelsea” which should pave the way for Maresca to wrap up this deal as soon as possible.

David Ornstein of The Athletic has further reported that personal terms have already been agreed with Chelsea closing in on a deal that may be worth around £40m.

The squad is heavily stacked from an attacking perspective, but there is no doubt that Chelsea needs another couple of defenders to freshen things up.

As such, could Hato turn out to be an even better signing than Simons ahead of the 2025/26 campaign?

Why Hato would be a better signing than Simons for Chelsea

One reason why Maresca is keen on adding the teenager to his squad is surely due to his positional flexibility.

Over the course of his embryonic career thus far, Hato has played 88 games at left-back and 70 matches as a centre-back.

Last season, however, saw the 19-year-old operate on the left side of the defence and he showcased his talents, both going forward and defensively.

In the Eredivisie. The defender helped Ajax keep 11 clean sheets while he averaged 1.9 tackles, 0.7 interceptions and was dribbled past only 0.3 times per match.

Along with his eight goal contributions, Hato also managed to create six big chances in the top flight, while averaging 0.6 key passes per match, thus displaying plenty of attacking intent for his club.

Furthermore, when compared to his positional peers in leagues similar in reputation to the Dutch top-flight over the previous 365 days, Hato ranked in the top 5% for assists (0.21) per 90, along with ranking in the top 11% for touches in the opposition penalty area (2.33) per 90.

On this evidence, Hato would offer plenty at both ends of the pitch for Chelsea, thus giving Maresca a major boost.

There was no doubt that the 2024/25 season was his major breakout campaign for the Dutch giants, one that was largely praised by talent scout Jacek Kulig.

“Jorrel Hato is having an excellent season,” said Kulig. A fantastic mix of complete full-back, playmaking full-back, and ball-playing centre-back. Over 100 games for Ajax and 6 caps for Oranje at 19. Immense quality and experience for such a young defender.”

Simons will bring something extra to the Chelsea attacking department; there is no doubt about that. Still only 22, he will only go from strength to strength in the next few years.

Hato, on the other hand, may well turn out to be the better signing for the Stamford Bridge outfit given that the Blues are already stacked in offensive areas.

By signing both players, it would signal yet another statement of intent by Maresca. Chelsea will surely be a force to be reckoned with this season if the squad can gel swiftly.