Chelsea were denied the chance to sign former Arsenal midfielder and current USMNT ace Yunus Musah in January as their plan to revamp in the middle of the park continues. The Blues are now looking at Moises Caicedo, who football.london understands is the priority target.
This comes after a deal to sign Sporting CP anchor Manuel Ugarte fell through earlier this week. Romeo Lavia is another option that the club admire. With N'Golo Kante set to leave, heading to Saudi Arabia after a late offer emerged, the midfield could quickly become a problem area.
Mauricio Pochettino is keen to add depth, quality and energy to the squad and may not have much choice as the club now face the prospect of losing five midfielders with Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Denis Zakaria all set to move on from Stamford Bridge.
Should they sell that group, it could bring in a combined £100m ($124m), a sizeable fee that coud fund their next incoming player.
Even with January signing Enzo Fernandez and the highly-rated crop of young players signed under Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital, it is a lot of change for one position. The signs are that experience is not a major factor in their recruitment process, though, with another young option emerging.
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, speaking on the In Soccer We Trust podcast, Musah has been on the radar at SW6 for a while. "I think he's going to leave, this was already planned in January," he explained. "I can reveal to you that in January Chelsea were really serious for Musah.
"They wanted Musah, they really wanted Musah, but Valencia decided to keep the player because they wanted to avoid relegation, so it was really important to keep Musah. But then they promised him the possibility to leave the club in the summer.
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"This is why I think there is a good possibility for Musah to go. Inter really appreciate him, but he's too expensive at the moment so I don't see that as an easy option for Musah. I would keep Chelsea again there because they've been following him and they really rate him highly, so keep an eye on Chelsea again."
Musah, who's stock was extremely high last summer after impressing for Valencia in his second full season, was reportedly a target for his former club Arsenal as they looked to strengthen in midfield as well. Although the year in Spain didn't go to plan and he struggled alongside his teammates, Musah's World Cup demonstrated why there is a £86m ($108.2m) release clause in his contract.
He only left Arsenal in 2019 but their interest has never truly waivered from him. Although an outsider for the Gunners, who themselves are keen on Caicedo but have earmarked Declan Rice as the true priority, it isn't out of the realms of possiblity to see him move to the Emirates Stadium in the future.
"Of course, he started in the Arsenal academy. And he’s a player that’s really appreciated there," Romano added. "At the moment, it’s not something concrete or something advanced, but that kind of player could be interesting for Arsenal. I think he will be on the move and I think for Valencia it will be reallly complicated to keep Musah next season."
As for the player himself, he hasn't ruled out a return himself. "You never know. I had a great time at Arsenal developing there, I still have friends there, the coaches were great, being an Arsenal player in general is great," he said.
"I loved playing for Arsenal. I’ve nothing against the club and if one day it turns out to be that it’s time to go back then it’s possible."
For now Chelsea may well have the advantage on Arsenal if they were to pursue this deal. Their need appears to be more important at this stage and their interest more fresh. Either way, the continued battle for players - which has now covered Rice, Caicedo, Mykhailo Mudryk and Mount - is set to go on for a bit longer.
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