The teenager has been in and around the Portuguese club’s first-team this season. He has made six appearances for the side, starting twice in the league. He also has one Europa League appearance, which is a further step forward.

Banjaqui is also a product of the Benfica youth academy, featuring 22 times for their B team.

He is already attracting interest from clubs abroad, with Chelsea and Liverpool in the race for him.

Competition for player growing

TuttoJuve report that several international clubs have been lining up to scout the talent in recent weeks. Juventus are one and they see him as a player who can become a long-term option at right-back.

The Bianconeri are aware of growing competition from the rest of Europe. The report mentions Chelsea and Liverpool as suitors, with Borussia Dortmund also in the chase.

Juve believe Banjaqui has significant room for growth and would ideally want to anticipate competition from other clubs.

They’re also wary of the spending power of both English sides. More than that, the Old Lady are certain that Benfica can’t be convinced about a sale anytime soon. The Portuguese side would rather develop the teenager into a full first-team star before considering moving him on.

Our take: Next few months key

Banjaqui is slowly showing signs of becoming a regular at Benfica. This should be a positive for Chelsea, Liverpool and even Juve, who should continue to monitor his progress in the next few months.

For the 18-year-old, keeping his progress going at Benfica would be the best option. A move elsewhere could halt his momentum and derail his career at a young age.

The Portuguese club’s reputation suggests it is the best place for him to grow and then seek a bigger move.

Benfica to the Premier League

Transfers over the past 10 years — including loans

Year	Player	Premier League club	Deal
2017	Ederson	Manchester City	Permanent
2017	Victor Lindelöf	Manchester United	Permanent
2018	Raúl Jiménez	Wolves	Loan; permanent in 2019
2020	Gedson Fernandes	Tottenham Hotspur	Loan
2020	Rúben Dias	Manchester City	Permanent
2020	Carlos Vinícius	Tottenham Hotspur	Loan
2021	Nuno Tavares	Arsenal	Permanent
2022	Darwin Núñez	Liverpool	Permanent
2022	Carlos Vinícius	Fulham	Permanent
2023	Enzo Fernández	Chelsea	Permanent
2024	Morato	Nottingham Forest	Permanent
2025	Florentino Luís	Burnley	Loan with mandatory purchase clause
2026	Rodrigo Rêgo	Brighton & Hove Albion	Permanent; subsequently loaned to Castellón
2026	António Silva	Bournemouth	Permanent
2026	Amar Dedić	Newcastle United	Permanent
14 players · 15 moves to Premier League clubs

Covers 15 October 2016 to 15 October 2026. Includes transfers and loans from Benfica to clubs in the Premier League at the time of signing, including players recruited from Benfica’s development teams. Signing for a Premier League club does not necessarily mean making a league appearance.
Loan-to-permanent deals at the same club count as one move. Carlos Vinícius’s separate moves to Tottenham and Fulham count individually; his Fulham transfer was from parent club Benfica following a PSV loan.
Sources: official club announcements and Premier League transfer records. Checked: 15 October 2026.

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The 18-year-old’s rise in Ecuador had caught the attention of a few European clubs. This includes Chelsea and Barcelona, while the Black Cats won the battle in the end.

On deadline day, Sunderland completed his signing from Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle for a reported fee of €4-5.8m.

The striker graduated from Independiente’s youth system and made his way into their first team earlier this year. Operating in his preferred role and also as a winger, he managed seven goals and three assists from 23 matches.

Angulo’s development convinced Chelsea and Barcelona to make advances. Their efforts weren’t successful as Régis Le Bris’ side acquired his signature.

Why Chelsea and Barcelona lost to Sunderland 

Radio Diblu took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to report about the Blues and the La Liga winners. The two clubs ‘were close to signing Juan Riquelme Angulo’ prior to his move to the Stadium of Light.

Journalist Andrés Ponce shares more information about Chelsea and Barcelona’s failure to sign the youngster for Radio Diblu.

Both Xabi Alonso’s side and the Spanish champions wanted to sign him and immediately send the attacker out on loan. Sunderland had no plans to sanction a temporary move and wanted to include him Régis Le Bris’ squad.

In fact, Ponce reports the manager’s personal assurance, which would have been key for him to pick Sunderland over Chelsea and Barcelona.

He said: “I was told that Juan Riquelme Angulo had offers from Barca to be loaned to another club.”

“Chelsea were very interested until the very last day he went to Sunderland. They were also in the running to loan him out. From Sunderland, the manager asked for him and said: ‘I’m not going to loan him out, he’s going to be my third striker’.”

Decision to join Sunderland working out 

Last month, the player said he fulfilled his dream by securing a move to the Stadium of Light.

Juan Riquelme Angulo featured in Sunderland U21’s win over Norwich City in September. During the last international break, he made his senior debut for Ecuador and scored in their friendly against Panama.

Last weekend, the striker made his Sunderland debut in their league defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. The recent developments indicate he was right to pick the Black Cats over Chelsea and Hansi Flick’s side.

He’s behind Brian Brobbey and Wilson Isidor in the pecking order and has to settle for a limited role in his debut season.

“El Barça y Chelsea estuvieron cerca de llevarse a Juan Riquelme Angulo”

@AndresPonce28: “Me contaron que Juan Riquelme Angulo tenía ofertas del Barça para prestarlo a otro club. El Chelsea estuvo muy interesado hasta el último día que se fue al Sunderland; estuvieron ahí atrás también para prestarlo. Desde el Sunderland, el técnico lo pidió y dijo: ‘No lo voy a prestar, va a ser mi tercer delantero’”.

— Radio Diblu (@RadioDibluFM) October 14, 2026

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The 19-year-old’s performances, potential and versatility would have caught Chelsea and Arsenal attention.

He made his way into Boca Juniors’ first team earlier this year, after rising through their youth system.

Operating mainly as a left wing-back and occasionally in other attacking positions, Aranda has a goal and three assists from 32 matches.

Chelsea and Arsenal already showed interest 

In August, Sport Witness covered a report from Argentina explaining that Chelsea joined Arsenal in chasing him. However, a move never took shape in the summer and he’s still at the Argentine club.

Last month, we relayed news of Xabi Alonso’s side looking to sign Tomás Aranda at the start of 2027.

The two London clubs are still in the picture and El Intransigente reports they and Napoli continue to pursue him.

Aranda’s development at Boca Juniors has sparked interest from Chelsea, the Gunners and the Serie A side. These clubs have only made approaches and continue to monitor him, without submitting offers.

Chelsea could overtake Arsenal 

The Stamford Bridge club could consider signing the Argentina international and sending him on loan to RC Strasbourg. The Blues are evaluating several scenarios, including a loan spell with the Ligue 1 side.

Tomás Aranda has a contract until December 2029, and Transfermarkt value him at €12m. It also includes a $20m [€17.8m] clause that will rise to €25m [€22.3m] before the start of the Argentine season next year.

Boca Juniors’ plan is to keep him unless one of his suitors were to trigger the clause. His rise has even seen Lionel Messi publicly praise him.

Surprisingly, El Intransigente makes no mention of the serious blow he suffered in August. The player is expected to be out until December, but that doesn’t seem to put off Chelsea, Arsenal or Napoli.

These clubs would want to wait until Aranda returns to the pitch before making further advances, either in January or next summer.

The post Chelsea and Arsenal make approaches to sign Tomás Aranda – Messi is a fan appeared first on Sport Witness.

The 17-year-old’s development at the MLS side has caught the attention of European clubs, including Chelsea.

He has been part of the club’s academy and has impressed for their reserve team. The striker made his Philadelphia Union II debut in 2025 and also represented them this year, managing 11 goals and an assist from 36 matches.

This helped the Michigan-born frontman make his debut for the first team earlier this year. He has a goal and an assist from 178 minutes from 12 matches so far.

Jakupovic has starred for USA U17s, scoring 12 goals and contributing an assist from nine matches. This hasn’t gone unnoticed in Europe, where the Premier League side are in contention to secure his services.

Chelsea in mix for American 

Borussia Dortmund are keen and when covering the latest about them, Sky Deutschland mentions the Blues’ interest.

Serhou Guirassy, 30, and Fábio Silva are currently the strikers at the Signal Iduna Park. The Bundesliga side are already looking for Guirassy’s successor and seriously considering a fresh move for Malik Jakupovic.

BVB have been monitoring for a while and even made two offers of €2m and €3m in the summer. However, Philadelphia Union rejected them while the German club continue to maintain contact, likely with his camp.

Niko Kovač’s side won’t find it easy to sign the frontman and have to be worried about the ‘tough competition’ from Chelsea and a few others.

Fee won’t be issue for Chelsea 

Besides Borussia Dortmund, Xabi Alonso’s side, VfB Stuttgart and AS Monaco have shown interest in the youngster. Eintracht Frankfurt have held talks over a potential move in the past.

With several clubs keen, Borussia Dortmund are expecting a fierce competition, meaning a tough battle with Chelsea and others for Malik Jakupovic’s signature. The MLS side’s asking price may also be a concern for BVB.

Their last offer was around €3m for a player with a contract until 2030, with an option for another year. Transfermarkt value him at €300k, while Sky state Philadelphia Union are demanding €10m to sell the striker.

The price may not be an issue for the London club, who continue to search for young talents. Earlier this month, Sport Witness covered a report from Germany explaining that the Blues want to sign Bayern Munich youngster Leonard Prescott.

Jakupovic will turn 18 years of age next June and will then be eligible to play in the UK. Chelsea can now agree a deal for him to arrive at Stamford Bridge next summer. The Blues or another club, however, haven’t made further advances so far.

The post Worry about ‘tough competition’ from Chelsea – Blues keen, battling for player appeared first on Sport Witness.

This week, Chelsea midfielder Jordan Henderson finds himself in the spotlight. He’s of particular interest to the Dutch press thanks to his time at Ajax.

The 36-year-old joined the Dutch giants in 2024, signing on a free transfer after his ill-fated spell at Al-Ettifaq. The hope was that he could be the older head in a young Dutch team.

But his time at the club would only last a year and 57 appearances before he was back in the Premier League with Brentford. It’s fair to say that the Dutch press were less than impressed with that year in Amsterdam, regularly questioning the veteran and the point of the move.

Shining at Chelsea

Now Jordan Henderson is shining at Chelsea, after joining the Blues in the summer. This weekend was his best performance to date as he bagged two goals and an assist in the 5-1 defeat of Bournemouth.

But it seems while everyone in England was impressed, the Dutch press were not.

“I thought Henderson was a useless, run-of-the-mill footballer,” Derksen begins on the show Vandaag Inside.

“He made absolutely no impression in the Netherlands, and then he went back to England. I thought he’ll end up at some second-division club. Now he’s starting for Chelsea and has fired in two goals, each one better than the last.”

Unconvinced by English praise

Valentijn Driessen is having absolutely none of that though. He remains convinced that the Chelsea midfielder is useless.

“So, you think someone is good just because they mishit the ball twice?” Valentijn Driessen hit back.

“For him, that is a mishit, because he never strikes them that well. He must be delivering some kind of performance, though.

“Perhaps he’s useful as a sort of ‘water carrier’ among all those stars. It amounts to nothing. I don’t like that type of player.” René van der Gijp is slightly more enthusiastic about the Chelsea midfielder.

“In England, they view him as the ideal professional,” he concluded.

“A bit like what Dusan Tadic thinks of himself. It’s better when someone else says that about you, but over there, they really do see Henderson as the ideal professional.”

Jordan Henderson

First-team club career stats

Club	Apps	Goals	Assists*
Sunderland 2008–2011	79	5	8
Coventry City 2009 · loan	13	1	0
Liverpool 2011–2023	492	33	58
Al-Ettifaq 2023–2024	19	0	5
Ajax 2024–2025	57	1	9
Brentford 2025–2026	34	1	3
Chelsea 2026–present	2	2	1
Club career total	696	43	84*

All competitive first-team club matches, including domestic cups,
continental competitions, super cups and FIFA Club World Cup.
Excludes youth/reserve football, internationals and friendlies.
*Liverpool assists use the club’s official total of 58.
Other clubs use Opta Analyst; assist definitions can vary between sources.
Sources: Liverpool FC and Opta Analyst.
Checked: 13 October 2026.

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Months after the World Cup, his commitment for the national team is still being questioned back home.

Of course the midfielder missed Ecuador’s latest international break because of injury. That meant he had no chance to respond to the criticism which followed his country’s disappointing World Cup campaign.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have already welcomed him back. Caicedo played 72 minutes in their 5-1 win over Bournemouth, helping the Blues regain control of midfield after a difficult run without him.

It’s quite a contrast. In London, his importance is hardly up for debate. Back in Ecuador, there’s still a feeling that the country’s biggest star owes them more.

Ecuador still waiting for ‘Chelsea’s version’ of Caicedo

Ecuadorian outlet El Futbolero brought the discussion back this weekend, highlighting how differently Caicedo is viewed in England and his homeland.

The report explains that some supporters have even labelled him “pecho frío”, roughly meaning someone who lacks passion or struggles to deliver in important moments.

Much of that frustration comes from Ecuador’s elimination against Mexico at the 2026 World Cup. Caicedo struggled to influence that 2-0 defeat.

At the time, El Comercio questioned his leadership and his ability to make a difference when Ecuador needed him most. There were also complaints about his attacking contribution and set-piece delivery.

On his column, pundit Andrés Ávila was equally critical. He said: “That commanding version of Caicedo, which we saw throughout the season in England, never really appeared in an Ecuador shirt.”

He also questioned the Chelsea midfielder’s personality and his ability to lift his teammates when Ecuador were under pressure.

Different expectations, different responsibilities

There’s an interesting point behind all this. At Chelsea, Caicedo’s work often goes unnoticed until he’s missing. His positioning, ball recoveries and simple passes help the team function.

The Blues failed to win any of their three Premier League matches immediately before his return against Bournemouth. Of course he was subbed in when the score was very much settled, but his comeback coincided with a convincing victory.

For Ecuador, the expectations seem different. Caicedo is one of the country’s biggest names, and supporters want him to take charge when matches become difficult. His defensive numbers aren’t necessarily enough to satisfy them.

That probably explains why some of the criticism has continued despite his excellent reputation in England.

His absence from the latest international squad, caused by his injury, has also delayed his opportunity to change that perception.

For now, Chelsea have their midfielder back and performing well. Ecuadorian supporters will have to wait a little longer to see whether he can bring the same authority to the national team.

And judging by the reaction to his World Cup performances, he’ll have plenty to prove when that opportunity comes.

The post Chelsea star’s return brings good news in England, but bitterness elsewhere appeared first on Sport Witness.

The defensive midfielder graduated from Barcelona’s academy and made his first team debut in 2024.

His rapid development and potential caught the attention of a few clubs from the Premier League and La Liga. Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United belong to the former.

The 19-year-old made his debut in August 2024 and suffered a serious knee injury later that month. He spent 345 days on the sidelines and played 42 appearances since then, of which nine are from this season.

PL interest in Barcelona player 

Two years ago, we relayed news of Manchester United and Newcastle United looking at the Spain international.

In July, Sport Witness covered a report from Spain explaining that Manchester City made a move to sign him. This had forced Hansi Flick’s side to think about an extension, despite the renewal in September 2025.

The two Manchester clubs, along with Liverpool and Chelsea, have all looked at the young midfielder and Sport covers the latest.

Marc Bernal is now close to signing a second contract extension in a year. The latest will be until 2031, and this is a ‘strategic move’ from Barcelona, following the interest from the Premier League.

Bernal and Barca didn’t entertain PL sides 

Marc Bernal has to compete with summer signing Rodri for a place in the starting lineup. Spain manager Luis de la Fuente sees him as the former Manchester City star’s natural successor.

Rodri’s arrival could have made it complicated for the youngster. He had options to leave the Camp Nou and received offers after his compatriot’s arrival.

Sport immediately mention Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United made approaches. Atlético Madrid also showed interest as Diego Simeone was keen on including him in his squad.

The newspaper states: ‘Neither Barca nor the player wanted to explore a departure because Bernal could be a very, very important asset for the future. Therefore, Barça has secured his services until 2031 in a very ambitious agreement.’

Bernal’s second renewal in a year will only make it more challenging and expensive for the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea or Manchester United to sign him.

The two Manchester clubs signed three midfielders each in the summer window. There’s a possibility of Barcelona, via the Catalan media, using the mild interest from these clubs to create a hype around Bernal’s impending extension until 2031.

The post Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City approaches for Barcelona player revealed appeared first on Sport Witness.

The 21-year-old started Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Nice and found the net in the second half. He played 73 minutes and was one of Strasbourg’s better performers, despite the result.

It’s an important moment for Essugo, who has struggled to get regular playing time since arriving in France. His first three appearances came from the bench, and Sunday’s match was his first start.

The Portuguese midfielder now has a goal and an assist from just 168 minutes of football for Strasbourg. Those are encouraging numbers for Chelsea, although there’s a bit more to his situation.

Essugo making an impression in France

French newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace published an article about Essugo’s progress, describing him as a player who is growing in influence at Strasbourg.

Journalist Cédric Cariou points out that the midfielder had already shown some interesting qualities before Sunday’s goal.

His debut against Troyes was quite encouraging. Essugo came off the bench for 27 minutes, impressed with his physical strength and ability to break opposition lines, and assisted Samuel Amo-Ameyaw.

He then played 45 minutes against Monaco and another 23 against Paris Saint-Germain.

There were some difficulties along the way. Following the Monaco match, Les Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace highlighted how tired Essugo looked towards the end of his appearance.

Strasbourg manager Hugo Oliveira had also asked for patience with his new signings. The French club brought in 17 players during the summer, leaving plenty of work to do in terms of fitness, understanding and tactical organisation.

Essugo’s situation is particularly interesting because Oliveira reportedly had doubts about bringing him in.

Back in September, Alsa’Sports relayed quotes suggesting the manager wasn’t entirely convinced Strasbourg needed another midfielder. He already had several options in that area. But Essugo arrived anyway, and his latest performance gives Oliveira another reason to consider him for a bigger role.

Chelsea youngster gets his chance

After Sunday’s match against Nice, the local press highlighted Essugo’s physical presence in midfield and considered him one of the few positives from the defeat.

There’s also been some international football during the recent break. Essugo represented Portugal’s U21s during the international break, including a 71-minute appearance against Gibraltar.

Interestingly, he played as a central defender in that match, showing another side to his game.

Of course for Chelsea the main concern remains his lack of regular minutes. Four appearances since September is hardly the consistent football they’d want from a player sent out to develop.

Still, there’s a positive trend here. Essugo has contributed directly to two goals in limited playing time, and his first start ended with praise from the French press. Sunday’s goal should help Essugo’s case. Chelsea will now want to see whether he can build on it.

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The Portuguese manager arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2011 after a brilliant spell at Porto. He was just 33 and had won the Europa League, Portuguese league and domestic cup.

Chelsea hoped they had found one of Europe’s next great managers. Instead, Villas-Boas lasted just eight months before being sacked in March 2012.

Now, 15 years after leaving Porto for London, the club’s current president has looked back at what went wrong. And he doesn’t seem to have many doubts about where he made his biggest mistakes.

Villas-Boas admits Chelsea dressing room needed different treatment

Speaking at the Cardiology Gaia Meeting 2026, in comments carried by Portuguese outlet O Jogo, Villas-Boas explained how he tried to bring Porto’s management style to Chelsea.

“There was a point in my career when I adopted a leadership style that I thought I could bring with me from Porto’s organisation.”

“For those who don’t know, I left Porto to become Chelsea manager. I thought that the manager I had been at Porto, with a structure behind me, could be that same manager at Chelsea and lead the players in the same way.”

“Being highly disciplined, strict and making sure everyone knew that nobody was more important than the club.”

That approach had worked perfectly in Portugal. Chelsea, however, were a different story.

“The truth is that dressing room had its own particular characteristics, with highly talented players, prima donnas and so on. A collection of very particular egos.”

“And what that often requires from a leader is not giving up your basic principles, the universal ones, on a personal and human level, while knowing how to put on a mask.”

“And that mask basically serves to get the most out of a player’s talent on the pitch.”

“This is very difficult because we all live by the principle of ‘I’m the same person with everyone’. But anyone in a leadership role knows perfectly well that, to motivate a particular individual, you have to be capable of applying pressure, discipline and demands to some people. That’s how they work.”

“For others, you need to take a more comforting approach, be a friend and welcome them with open arms.”

“That’s why I failed so badly”

AVB then went further, admitting that his determination to treat everyone equally had actually worked against him.

“There are certain talents and egos that require some flexibility, different levels of respect and a different approach.”

“That, for example, was one of the areas where I failed at Chelsea. For me, everyone was on the same level, everyone followed the same rules, there were no differences. And that’s why I failed so badly.”

“Leadership has to make concessions in terms of respect and consideration for certain statuses. But, of course, in a sporting group, the manager’s leadership must always be supreme.”

“He’s the one who’s there every day, every minute, with the player. He understands their frustrations, understands when they’re working well, when they’re not working, and understands when they challenge his authority.”

Chelsea’s dressing room at the time included established figures such as John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole. Elite players who had already won major trophies together.

Villas-Boas arrived with his own ideas and tried to establish a different way of doing things. His comments now suggest he underestimated just how much those personalities mattered.

Special treatment for special players

The former Chelsea manager also explained why treating exceptional players differently doesn’t necessarily mean losing control of a dressing room.

“I don’t think the importance of the leader can ever be questioned. Their decisions are final, and that’s how they should remain. Then there are things that require special care, certain concessions.”

“But it’s also true that, within group dynamics, everyone recognises that those individuals are different, that they’ve helped them achieve certain objectives.”

“And moving away from the subject of Ronaldo, we can think of different players who’ve reached those levels, from Ronaldinho and Neymar… even Pelé and Maradona, to simplify things a little.”

“People recognise that they’re different and that, to perform, they need specific privileges.”

“Of course, people also need the maturity to behave properly and know their place, respecting their managers.”

For Chelsea, that lesson came too late. Roberto Di Matteo replaced him and went on to win the Champions League just a few months later.

Villas-Boas subsequently managed Tottenham, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Shanghai SIPG and Marseille before moving into football administration.

Now 48 and president of Porto, he seems much more comfortable discussing the mistakes he made in London. And his latest comments offer a pretty revealing explanation of why things never worked out at Stamford Bridge.

The post “A collection of very particular egos” – Manager explains what went wrong at Chelsea appeared first on Sport Witness.

The France international spent three years at Sevilla and left them for Barcelona in 2022. At the Andalusian club, he operated as a centre-back and his performances had convinced Chelsea to bet on him.

However, the Premier League side missed out as the defender favoured a move to the Camp Nou. He has won three league titles, three Supercopa de España and one Copa de Rey with Barcelona.

Koundé has moved from the heart of the defence to the right-back position at Barca. He played 197 matches for the Catalan club and 148 were as a fullback. This doesn’t seem to have now put off Xabi Alonso’s side.

Why Chelsea lost Koundé to Barcelona

In July 2022, Monchi was the sporting director at Sevilla and had confirmed reaching a verbal agreement with the London club.

Thomas Tuchel was the manager at Stamford Bridge, and the 27-year-old earlier talked about his chat with the German.

After completing his move to Barcelona, Jules Koundé confirmed Chelsea wanted him and explained why he picked the La Liga winners.

At that time, he said: “Yes, Chelsea wanted me, but I chose Barca because I wanted to get here, it wasn’t an effort for me. I had another opportunity. I waited for Barca’s agreement with Sevilla. And I chose it, because it’s a club with an ambitious project, I like the league…” 

Situation at Barcelona can favour Chelsea 

Journalist Matteo Moretto reports the Blues’ interest in the versatile defender for Radio Marca‘s La Pizarra.

He states Xabi Alonso’s side have made an approach to find out the conditions needed to sign Jules Koundé.

“There are Premier League clubs keeping a close eye on his situation. Chelsea enquired about him and almost signed him before he went to Barca. Looking ahead to January, they are exploring this situation and looking at the numbers of this potential operation,” he said.

The Frenchman’s future was uncertain during the summer window, and doubts still exist. In short, his future is up in the air and Hansi Flick’s side won’t oppose to his sale.

“Koundé’s future at Barca is not guaranteed, and Chelsea have enquired about him. It remains to be seen whether Barca is looking for ways to raise funds to sign a top striker,” Moretto explained.

Regarding the player’s price, he concluded: “Probably more than €50m.”

His contract lasts until 2030, and the price quoted should be affordable for Chelsea. There’s no clarity whether the defender is open to joining the west London club in January or next summer.

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