Chelsea are set for a busy end to the transfer window this week and many players are still being linked with moves away, including Christian Pulisic, Conor Gallagher, Billy Gilmour and Armando Broja.
Thomas Tuchel has landed six summer signings so far, with more expected this week - Wesley Fofana is set to join after a fee was agreed with Leicester City and the 21-year-old is now travelling to America for his medical.
But as incomings still get targeted, the futures of many Chelsea stars are still up in the air as Thursday’s 11pm (BST) deadline looms.
Hakim Ziyech to Ajax and Callum Hudson-Odoi (loan) to Bayer Leverkusen look increasingly likely, while Ethan Ampadu is on the verge of joining Spezia on loan, but the likes of Gilmour, Gallagher, Pulisic and Broja could still be on the move, some more likely than others.
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As reported by David Ornstein of The Athletic, Gallagher and Pulisic are expected to stay at Stamford Bridge unless an offer which is too good to refuse is made.
The Times report that Crystal Palace, who have remained interested in re-signing Gallagher this summer following his loan spell at Selhurst Park last season, have made a fresh bid with days to go in the window.
A bid of around £27 million has been made, with Patrick Vieira’s side hoping to persuade Gallagher to make the switch back across London, and for Chelsea to agree to a permanent transfer rather than a loan.
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Meanwhile, Armando Broja has been linked with a move away all summer but he appears part of Tuchel’s plans and returned to training last week after injury.
He is regarded by the club’s new ownership as one of the best young strikers in Europe, and is set to remain for the 2022-23 season.
As for Billy Gilmour, he hasn’t been given a shirt number this season by Chelsea, and will be hoping for a move away this season to collect and play regular minutes.
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Everton and Brighton have been linked, but nothing is advanced with Graham Potter’s Seagulls.
Chelsea would prefer to loan him out instead of selling, however time is running out to resolve his short-term future.
Tuchel said earlier this month that their focus wasn’t on offloading players if they weren’t able to add to the squad.
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He admitted: “We will not encourage our players to go out in the moment.
"We had now two training sessions with 18 players. In a schedule where we play once a week it is not a problem. If I look a little bit, the chin up a little bit and look at the schedule that is coming with Southampton during the week and two Champions League matches, it’s coming. It’s in front of the door.
“We will need a lot of players and quality players to be competitive. At the moment, like I said, we have what we have.
"We know what we’re looking for. From there we go and only from there we can think about letting players go.”
Topics: Christian Pulisic, Conor Gallagher, Chelsea, Billy Gilmour, Armando Broja, Transfers
Matthew Debono