Romano: Chelsea contact entourage of £47m South American star for summer move

Chelsea among clubs in contact with the agent of Manchester City star Gabriel Jesus

According to the Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, writing in his Caught Offside column (h/t The Express), Chelsea are among the clubs who have made contact with the agent of Manchester City star Gabriel Jesus ahead of the next season. He has been linked with an exit recently, having struggled to become a key starter for them over the past few years.

While Jesus has seen his prominence at Etihad increase in the second half of the last season, he is expected to leave in the summer transfer window. That has alerted the Blues who are keen to bolster their forward options after their latest transfer setback surrounding Romelu Lukaku. They have met with the Man City ace’s representative to discuss a potential move.

That being said, Romano has revealed that they are not alone in the race, with four other interested parties also holding discussions about the possibility of a transfer with the Brazilian’s camp. Arsenal and Real Madrid are stated to be two of the sides in the mix, which makes up for an exciting couple of weeks ahead.

Jesus to Chelsea, possible?

Lukaku’s struggles have been well-documented since he joined us last summer, which has forced his future into uncertain waters as of now. But he is not the only problem in the attacking department, with others also being in a similar boat as the Belgian striker. That has put us into a delicate situation as we are desperate for defensive additions this summer.

The likes of Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech have all failed to showcase their qualities consistently since moving to Stamford Bridge. That has put us into a dilemma at this moment as serious questions can be raised on whether any of them deserves to keep getting opportunities despite failing to make use of it all these times.

It seems that Pulisic, Werner and Ziyech could be on the way out of the West London side, which opens up spots for Jesus to come in this summer. The latter is versatile enough to play anywhere in the attack, which certainly does suit Thomas Tuchel’s flexible style of play.

As such, Jesus could form a trio with Kai Havertz and Mason Mount in a flexible frontline that interchanges positions during matches. After all, our best performances in the last campaign came when Havertz played in the middle ahead of Werner or Lukaku, as the team was more fluid in their attack.

Jesus would be of great help in such a case, although his £47million valuation makes him quite unattractive, to say the least. After all, he is nearing the last year of his current contract, which makes that asking price a bit bloated. The Blues would be wise to remind City that they can lose him on a free next year.

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Then again, the Gunners and Real’s interest would cause problems for us if they would actively pursue the 25-year-old this summer. It remains to be seen how the Blues approach this deal, having signed much-hyped number nines in back-to-back summer windows with Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku.