Desperate to add to their squad on transfer deadline day, Chelsea managed to get two deals over the line at the final hurdle.
The Blues signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona, while also bolstering their midfield by loaning Denis Zakaria from Juventus with an option to make the move permanent.
This will have been the minimum Thomas Tuchel wished for, having lost both Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner as goalscoring options throughout the transfer window, and while Raheem Sterling was also brought in, there were strong rumours of an interest from Chelsea in Milan’s Rafael Leao.
Those seemed to originate from Jorge Mendes, who potentially saw a good opportunity, but the move never took off, as Milan made it known their star wasn’t for sale.
His importance at the Serie A side is clear, which is why they want to give him a new deal to keep him beyond his current 2024 contract.
The newspaper point out that what works in the Italian’s favour is Leao’s decision ‘not to consider the flattery from Chelsea’ throughout the just finished transfer window.
There was talk of the Blues readying a €100m+ bid for the Portuguese, which was never made official, even if it did rattle the cage a bit.
That’s why Gazzetta explain ‘the next few weeks will be crucial to understand if there really are conditions to cement the contractual relationship after months of unsuccessful negotiations’.
As for Chelsea, they will have to make do with what they have until January, at the very least.
