Chelsea reach broad agreement with £61m “game-changer”

While they might not have spent the truly vast sums of money they have in windows past, Chelsea have still been busy in the market this summer.

As things stand, the Conference League champions’ standout signings are Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens, and they are set to secure the highly rated Jorrel Hato any day now.

However, for all the brilliant deals they’ve been able to get over the line, they had to watch Liverpool get their hands on the free-scoring Hugo Ekitiké, who was touted for a move to Stamford Bridge earlier in the window.

Fortunately, if reports are to be believed, the West Londoners could be closing in on a player who could be their own version of the French attacker.

Chelsea target their own Ekitike

Now, while plenty has already happened this summer, and it is often hard to keep track of every deal and rumour, it’s true that Chelsea were linked with Ekitike at several points towards the start of the window.

However, with the Blues clearly focusing on other, more pressing targets, and likely not being quite as interested as some stories suggested they were, Liverpool stole a march on them and secured the Frenchman’s services for a fee of around £69m.

Interestingly, while the former Eintracht Frankfurt star is now obviously no longer available, the West Londoners do appear like they are closing in on another attacking gem who could be their version of him.

At least that is according to a recent report from German outlet Bild, which reaffirms Chelsea’s intense interest in the talented Xavi Simons.

The report goes a step further, revealing that the Blues have now reached a broad agreement on terms with the player himself, and while they’ve not made an official offer to RB Leipzig just yet, it’s believed the German outfit are holding out for a fee of €70m, which is about £61m.

It would be an expensive transfer to get over the line, but given Simons’ ability and potential, it would be worth it, especially as he could be their own Ekitike.

Why Simons could be Chelsea’s own Ekitike

Now, the first thing to say is that while Simons is an incredibly versatile player and someone who has made a few appearances up top, he is not a centre-forward like Ekitike, but there are still several reasons the former could be Chelsea’s version of the latter.

Firstly, the young Dutchman would also be making his way to a ‘big six’ side in the Premier League from a Bundesliga side outside the traditional big two in Leipzig, similarly to how the Frenchman’s moving to Merseyside from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Second, both players are making their moves at similar ages, with the midfield maestro being just 22 and the exciting centre-forward just turning 23 years old.

The last somewhat surface-level similarity is the fact that both of them spent time playing for Paris Saint-Germain.

Simons joined the French side’s youth system in 2019 and then left and rejoined over the following years until his move to Leipzig was made permanent this January, while the new Liverpool star joined the Parisians in July 2022, and then left for Germany on a permanent deal two years later.

Finally, while the former PSV Eindhoven dynamo is unlikely to match the 22 goals in 48 games Ekitike scored last season at Stamford Bridge due to the position he tends to play in, he still has the ability to be an attacking tour de force, and could help flip games on their head for Maresca and Co.

For example, in just 33 appearances last season, totalling 2763 minutes, the Amsterdam-born “game-changer,” as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, scored 11 goals and provided eight assists.

In other words, the sensational talent, who one analyst has dubbed “one of the best 10s in the world,” managed to average a goal involvement every 1.73 games, or every 144 minutes.

Ultimately, while it wouldn’t be cheap, Chelsea should be doing what they can to bring Simons to West London this summer, as he could add some real quality to their attack and be an answer to Ekitike.