There is no end in sight to Chelsea's spending under Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali. Not content with bringing in Benoit Badiashile, Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix this month – in addition to a number of younger players – the club are set to complete the deal of Noni Madueke from PSV Eindhoven.
football.london understands talks between the two clubs intensified on Thursday afternoon and a package worth around £35million was agreed upon. The 20-year-old has subsequently travelled to the UK and is set to undergo a medical today before the deal is finalised.
Madueke's signing will take Chelsea's outlay in the transfer market this season above the £500million mark. Yet the club are not done as a new central midfielder is wanted before the January window closes. The arrival of a right-back to support Reece James has yet to be ruled out too.
READ MORE Chelsea close in on sixth January transfer as £35m breakthrough made for Noni Madueke from PSV
Barring the arrival of Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid, each signing made this month is part of the ownership group's long-term vision to reshape the first team under Graham Potter. Yet departures will need to be sanctioned in the coming 11 days to ensure Potter isn't left with a bloated and unmanageable squad.
Difficult decisions will have to be made – and that extends beyond the transfer window. On February 2, Chelsea will have to submit their squad for the remainder of their Champions League campaign. Borussia Dortmund lie in wait in the Round of 16; it is the first occasion the two sides have met in competitive action.
Each of Chelsea's new arrivals will hope to be involved. Yet one – and more if further signings are made – will miss out. That is because UEFA rules state that "a club may register a maximum of three new eligible players for the remaining matches in the current competition".
Badiashile, Mudryk, Madueke and Felix will all feel they deserve a place in Chelsea's 25-man squad for the knockout stage of the Champions League. It is Potter and his staff who will have to make that tricky decision.
But before that Chelsea will also have to remove two non-homegrown players from their A list. One may be Hakim Ziyech, who the club are understood to be willing to let leave this month if a suitor is found. Another could be Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has lost his place in the starting XI in recent months.
Potter is famed for his openness with players; whoever is omitted from the Champions League squad will not be kept in the dark as to why. That may not make it any easier to accept, especially given the desire of any signing to make an instant and telling impact at their new club.
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