Chelsea have an ambitious plan to sign Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes in January, according to journalist Simon Phillips.
The London giants attempted to land Edson Alvarez from Ajax during the summer transfer window, but the Dutch club refused to sell him before the deadline passed. Chelsea have been tipped to make a renewed approach for the Mexican this winter but Phillips claims that the Blues have several targets in mind.
Along with Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Eduardo Camavinga, he feels that he can take the helm in the future.
Speaking exclusively to GIVEMESPORT, Phillips said that Chelsea are looking to bolster their midfield department as a priority in January as well as the summer. He added that the club are looking at four players as of now including Guimaraes, who has been exceptional for Newcastle since joining them from Lyon.
He said: “I’ve been told at the moment, Chelsea are looking at Edson Alvarez from Ajax, Moises Caicedo from Brighton, Weston McKennie from Juventus, and Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle. The latter seems ambitious. Chelsea have a shortlist of midfielders they are looking at for a priority area in January, and again in the summer. Declan Rice is more possible come the summer rather than in January, same goes for Jude Bellingham, but I think he goes to either Liverpool or Real Madrid.”
Newcastle signed Guimaraes from French side Lyon last winter and he had an excellent second half to the 2021/22 campaign with five goals and one assist from 17 outings. He has continued to excel this season with two goals and two assists from 10 appearances and has proved a fantastic signing.
With Newcastle now being backed by Saudi-based owners, we don’t see them mulling over Guimaraes’ exit. The club are currently fourth on the table ahead of Chelsea on goal difference and further spending this winter could provide them with a realistic chance of Champions League qualification.
Todd Boehly, another ambitious co-owner of Chelsea, may be able to test Newcastle’s fortitude, but it may cost a startling six figures.
Chelsea also have an ambitious co-owner in Todd Boehly but it could take a staggering six-figure sum to test Newcastle’s resolve. According to Transfermarkt, Guimaraes is priced at £45 million but the 24-year-old may be worth more than £100 million for the Tynesiders after his instant impact.
The cost of Guimaraes is £45 million.
Graham Potter’s side could be better off looking at alternative transfer choices. A deal for Alvarez seems more likely for the club. The former Club America star has been given assurances from the Ajax board that he would be permitted to leave when the transfer window reopens from January 1.
New Todd Boehly January plan rеvеalеd with sᴜrprise U-turn amid Christopher Nkunku transfer
Gary Neville will say he’s caught the bug and got in over his head, Chelsea fans may be sceptical, but Todd Boehly’s response will be that this is all due diligence.
The new co-owner is yet to appoint a sporting director, technical director, director of directors or whatever the vagaries of a group of advisors might become at Chelsea, but work is being done.
The Blues are expected to complete a deal for RB Leipzig director Christopher Vivell, football.london understands. He could be joined by a massive internal revamp alongside Southampton’s Joe Shields as head of recruitment and Monaco technical director Laurence Stewart. The parts are moving.
Just like over the summer, the American may have hoped that things would be smoother and a bit more to plan, but that’s not football. Boehly, who worked as an unprecedented interim sporting director as co-owner, flung himself deep into the world of football relations, negotiations and transfer dealings.
Todd Boehly, Chelsea owner during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Manchester United.
To his credit, Chelsea wasn’t ripped off and completed some handy business, even if the squad still looks bare in areas. It was always going to take more than one summer. Whether he was right to give Thomas Tuchel the responsibility he got just to sack him one week after the window closed remains a point of contention, but Graham Potter is doing a good job with those new tools so far.
The aim was then to move swiftly into the director search and appoint a myriad of senior figures into influential footballing roles at the club of the like that Chelsea haven’t had before. Bruce Buck was no football advisor, Marina Granovskaia was notorious for ‘not a football person’ as much as she was an expert negotiator, and the extent to which Petr Cech was truly involved in decision-making is unknown. Step outside Chelsea, come into the modern day and appoint a true director of football.
That hasn’t gone as simply as Boehly wanted, either. Michael Edwards isn’t budging from his time away from the game – though he may still be used as one of the advisors further down the line if that means anything to anyone – and Christopher Freund from RB Salzburg went from a done deal to U-turn and remained in Austria.
The extent of the list goes far beyond those two. Bayer Leverkusen’s Tim Steidten was discussed, as was Leeds’ Victor Orta. Luis Campos was another advisor possibility, but really Boehly wanted someone solidly employed by the club in position before the World Cup and ready to tackle the January transfer window.
2023 already looks busy with midfield reshuffles, pre-agreements, contracts running down and post-World Cup decisions. Boehly can’t do it all alone, but if the right option isn’t there, he may well take it on. The 49-year-old enjoyed being on a whirlwind tour of European football and made a positive influence on those he met along the way. He didn’t get fleeced and is more than ready for more, according to CBS reporter Ben Jacobs.
He tweets: “Chelsea is currently planning for Todd Boehly to stay on as sporting director in January. Plenty of candidates were discussed, but #CFC is still in no rush to appoint unless they find the right name. Boehly is enjoying the role, and other appointments now allow Chelsea to take time.”
This could be seen as a step back, but just like in the market itself, rushing into decisions is often more costly than taking a step back. Chelsea already have identified transfer targets, and with Kyle Macaulay following Potter to Stamford Bridge, his expertise could prove to be vital in the coming months.
Chelsea already have a deal agreed with RB Leipzig for the рurchase of Christopher Nkunku next year and could be prepared to offer more than his £52.8m release clause in order to secure him even earlier than the summer with plenty of January action already on the cards.
The other thing to consider here is that despite Boehly’s work so far being frantic, it has still been measured. The appointment of Potter is a mature one that previous Chelsea regimes simply wouldn’t have considered. Everything has happened at lightspeed due to completely unique circumstances in 2022, and they look set to continue next year, but no appointment is better than the wrong appointment.
Potter is a man that speaks consistently about the ‘right people’ at a football club, and if Chelsea can’t find that person, waiting is a preferable solution to rushing. Boehly is already in this for the long run. If he has to live out of a suitcase for another couple of months, it’s a small price to pay for getting a step closer to the ultimate Chelsea goal.