Chelsea is now happily open to offers for a player who hasn’t played a single minute for the team.
One of Chelsea’s new summer signings might be on the move already, even before playing a competitive game for the club, reports say. The Blues are busy in the transfer market, having just made a British-record £117 million deal to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa.
According to The Athletic, Chelsea are also interested in bringing in veteran Brighton striker Danny Welbeck. New manager Xabi Alonso wants to add some experience to a team that mostly has younger players.
Since Blueco became the main owners in 2022, Chelsea have only signed two players over 30—Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kalidou Koulibaly. Both only stayed for one season, and Aubameyang scored just one league goal. If Welbeck joins, it could mean Chelsea may let go of some other forwards to slim down their squad.
Chelsea already have Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap, and new signing Emmanuel Emegha, along with their main striker Joao Pedro. The club has been thinking about whether to keep, loan, or sell these three players. With Welbeck possibly arriving, it looks even more likely some of them will be moving on.
Emegha officially joined Chelsea at the start of July, after the club agreed on a £22 million deal with Strasbourg last September. When the deal happened, Enzo Maresca was the manager, but Liam Rosenior, Emegha’s old Strasbourg coach, took over in January. Now, it’s up to Alonso, who took charge this summer, to decide what to do with Emegha, Delap, and Jackson.
Aston Villa are said to be interested in making a club-record offer for Jackson, especially after signing Chelsea winger Alejandro Garnacho on loan with an option to buy. Fabrizio Romano says Chelsea would be willing to sell Delap if the right offer comes in, though the English striker wants to stay and fight for his spot. There’s also a chance Emegha could leave if a good deal is made.
Unfortunately, Emegha will miss the rest of Chelsea’s pre-season tour due to a hamstring injury. Last season was tough for him too, as he only played 18 games because of several injuries. That could work against him if Welbeck comes in to challenge Joao Pedro for the striker role.
Still, Emegha’s strong record from the 2023/24 season—14 Ligue 1 goals in 29 games for Strasbourg—will give Chelsea’s coaching team hope as he works to get fully fit for the Premier League season ahead.