Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca privately wants to reinforce another key area of his squad in January, with the Blues eyeing a Serie A star as one potential target.
Enzo Maresca not satisfied with Chelsea team behind-the-scenes
The tactician is reportedly dissatisfied with his current squad, and feels that they’re still pretty weak in certain departments.
This is despite the fact they spent close to £300 million in the latest summer transfer window, with only Premier League champions Liverpool splashing more cash than the Blues on new recruits.
Liverpool
£415,000,000
£187,000,000
£228,000,000
Chelsea
£285,000,000
£288,000,000
-£3,000,000
Arsenal
£255,000,000
£9,000,000
£246,000,000
Newcastle
£250,000,000
£152,000,000
£98,000,000
Man Utd
£216,000,000
£68,000,000
£148,000,000
Nottm Forest
£205,000,000
£107,000,000
£98,000,000
Tottenham
£181,000,000
£36,000,000
£145,000,000
Sunderland
£162,000,000
£44,000,000
£118,000,000
Man City
£152,000,000
£53,000,000
£99,000,000
West Ham
£124,000,000
£55,000,000
£69,000,000
via BBC
However, while Chelsea did spend significantly, they failed to bring in a star centre-back — which they’re now paying dearly for.
Trevoh Chalobah (suspended), Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana and Tosin Adarabioyo are all set to miss today’s clash with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, leaving Maresca with little choice but to play Benoit Badiashile with left-back Jorrel Hato in the centre of defence, or opt for youngster Josh Acheampong.
Chelsea are set to try and sign a centre-back in January, with the club and board in agreement that should be the priority when the window reopens (Pete O’Rourke).
That being said, there are apparently more areas of the team which Maresca is currently unhappy with, and this has partly led to tension between Chelsea’s boss and the board.
“Maresca is not entirely happy at Chelsea right now, and the summer transfer window just made that even worse,” journalist Simon Phillips wrote, via his Substack, earlier this week.
“Maresca is not content with the squad he’s got and was far from behind a lot of the recruitment we did this summer and feels his squad still lacks a lot of key elements in some positions. SPTC sources have heard that there is definite tension between Maresca and the board.”
Now, in another Substack update, Phillips has reported that Maresca also wants to sign another number nine.
Chelsea eye Dušan Vlahović as Enzo Maresca desires a new striker
Liam Delap will be out until November after picking up a hamstring injury at the beginning of the season, while Joao Pedro is arguably more suited to the number 10 position.
Question marks also surround whether Marc Guiu, who returned from a brief loan spell at Sunderland, can be realistically relied upon as a proven goal getter.
According to Phillips, Maresca certainly thinks that Chelsea could do with another centre-forward, and £373,000-per-week Juventus striker Dušan Vlahović remains on their shortlist after previously considering a move for the Serbian.
“So, I’ve started to hear whispers that Chelsea feel like they need another proper 9, I know that Enzo Maresca certainly believes and feels that,” wrote the reporter.
“I’ve been asked about Ivan Toney, no idea why? I’ve not seen any reports on it. But anyway, I’ve not heard about Toney being looked at again yet, but he might be. I know for sure that there are people at Chelsea who still rate him and wanted him in before he went to Saudi. This was not heavily reported at the time, but Chelsea were really trying to sign him at one point. So there might be something there.
“It’s the same with Dušan Vlahović, he’s a player who’s been on Chelsea’s shortlist for a while and is still there. So if there’s an opportunity, I wouldn’t rule that out either.”
While Vlahovic would need to take a dramatic pay-cut to join Chelsea given their careful wage structure, there is reason to believe the 25-year-old could be a good option.
His contract expires in 2026, meaning Chelsea would be on to negotiate a cut-price January move, given the Old Lady would have very little negotiating room considering his deal runs out just months later.
Vlahovic has also scored over 110 senior goals across his career already despite still approaching his prime, including four in seven appearances this campaign, so the ex-Fiorentina star is a man bang in form.