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Chelsea have approached Renato Sanches as Xabi Alonso looks to strengthen his midfield outside the transfer window.

Foot Mercato shares Chelsea’s behind the scenes efforts to sign the 29-year-old.

New target for Chelsea

The Premier League side have signed Valentín Barco and Jordan Henderson as two midfielders in the summer window.

Chelsea sold Enzo Fernández to Manchester City on deadline day and attempted to sign AS Monaco’s Lamine Camara and AS Roma’s Manu Koné.

However, the Blues failed to sign either and then set their sights on Georginio Wijnaldum. On September 2nd, Sport Witness relayed news of the English club’s interest in the 35-year-old. This option is no longer on the table as he completed a move to Al-Ittihad.

Xabi Alonso’s side have also looked at surprising free agents to improve their midfield.

What’s happening now with Chelsea efforts

Xabi Alonso

Having missed out on the Dutchman, Chelsea had set their sights on Renato Sanches.

He is without a club since terminating his contract with Paris Saint-Germain on September 1st. This allows the Blues to sign him even though the transfer window in England closed last Tuesday.

The west London club’s officials believe the former Benfica man meets several criteria like immediate availability and high-level experience.

However, Chelsea have decided not to make further advances and want to ‘place their trust in their existing squad’. Alonso has also recently talked about it.

“We have several options and we need to find the right balance. We believe we have the quality and competitiveness necessary for the entire season and to face every opponent,” he said.

The player continues to attract interest from the top five leagues.

Journalist Sébastien Denis covered this report. He took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to add that Chelsea made a ‘surprise approach’ for Sanches. The manager’s decision to put trust in his current squad saw them not make further advances.

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