August 16 – Not content with having just smashed the British transfer record by buying Moises Caicedo from Brighton for an eye-watering (some might say obscene) £115 million to take their spending under the new American owners to almost £1 billion, Chelsea are poised to add two more names to their star-studded squad.
The club has agreed a £58 million deal with Southampton for Belgian midfielder Romeo Lavia who, like Caicedo, was also courted by Liverpool.
Liverpool had apparently already agreed a deal with Southampton for Lavia but the player has apparently made it clear he wants to go to Chelsea as part of their rebuilding operation under new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Chelsea are also set to sign exciting winger Michael Olise from Crystal Palace after activating a release clause in his contract in the region of £35 million.
The France Under-21 international is poised to become the club’s ninth major signing of the summer. He is currently recovering from a hamstring injury that he picked up playing for France in the European Under-21 Championship.
Pochettino has been tasked with overhauling the squad and vastly improving on last season’s 12th-place finish in the Premier League.
Mateo Kovacic, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ethan Ampadu, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Abdul Rahman Baba and former captain Cesar Azpilicueta have all departed so far this summer.
But with so much expensive new talent at his disposal, especially in midfield, Pochettino will have no excuses if Chelsea again come up short after another staggering outlay on new players.
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