Chelsea keen to sign £83m sensation who could be even better than Madueke

During the 2022/23 January transfer window, Chelsea spent a whopping £273m on seven new faces, while João Félix arrived on a six-month loan deal, costing around £9.1m.

The big deal of that month was done on deadline day for Chelsea, as they broke the bank for Benfica midfielder, Enzo Fernández, costing them around £106.8m, becoming the British-record transfer deal at the time.

The 23-year-old has since gone on to make 71 appearances for the Blues so far, scoring seven goals, providing six assists, and totalling 5,624 minutes.

Perhaps considered the biggest bargain of these deals, was the acquisition of Malo Gusto from Lyon, who has gone on to make 45 appearances for the club already – often in the place of the injury-prone Reece James – providing ten assists.

Alongside Gusto, Noni Madueke has begun to have a huge impact for Chelsea in the past few months, making his fee look a real bargain too. The 22-year-old has made 55 appearances for the Blues, netting 14 times, setting up teammates three times, and playing 2,891 minutes of football.

But Madueke could be in for some extra competition, as Chelsea are assessing some more forward options ahead of the January transfer window, including one exciting “difference-maker” as labelled by notable scout Jacek Kulig.

Chelsea looking at signing new winger

According to reports from CaughtOffside, Chelsea are among the interested clubs in Dortmund sensation, Jamie Gittens, who is also of interest to London rivals, Tottenham.

The report states he could cost as much as €100million (£83m) after his excellent start to this campaign.

The 20-year-old English winger has made 11 appearances for the German side so far this season, scoring five goals already (including three in the Champions League), and providing three assists in just 559 minutes played.

He starred for the German giants on the continental stage most of all, including scoring against Real Madrid to send BVB 2-0 up before the inevitable happened, a victory for the Spanish out on Tuesday evening.

If Gittens was to join Chelsea, he would be up against the likes of Madueke, Pedro Neto, Mykahailo Mudryk, and Jadon Sancho, as the wide man can play on both the left and right wing.

How Gittens compares to Madueke

The English winger has made all 11 of his appearances from the left-wing this season, so his direct competition for the Blues would be the likes of Sancho and Mudryk.

However, we have seen Enzo Maresca playing Neto on the left too, and he clearly is willing to play his wide men on either side, if they are capable, something that Gittens is.

So, how does he compare to some of the club’s best assets? Well, in a host of areas – chiefly goals and assists per 90 – the Dortmund sensation comes out on top.

Madueke and Gittens do have similar play styles, though, being on the more direct side, looking to have a higher shot volume, generating xG by attacking the box, and getting themselves on the scoresheet. Sancho, on the other hand, is a creator, excelling in passing metrics, and creating for others, averaging 0.79 assists per 90, and 4.12 shot-creating actions per 90.

Despite Gittens and Madueke playing on opposite sides, it would be likely that Maresca only plays one of the two, depending on the fixture, as they will both offer similar traits to the side. This could see the potential 2025 signing on the left, with Neto on the right, who can bring the creativity from out wide that is lost when Sancho isn’t playing.

Having Gittens and Neto, plus Sancho and Madueke as your two winger pairings would be elite squad depth. The main question would then become, what happens to Mudryk, and that would be at the forefront of the directors’ minds when making a decision on whether to sign the Dortmund superstar for such a big fee.