Osimhen deal, Man City bid – Enzo Maresca can build dream Chelsea XI with January transfer plan

Enzo Maresca could finally build the perfect Chelsea squad in the January transfer window. The Blues splashed over £200m on new players in the summer to catalyse the new head coach's project – and he's not disappointed.

Chelsea have enjoyed a brilliant start to the season, climbing into the top four of the Premier League. Although it's still early days, the West Londoners have made great progress under Maresca, who's helped reestablish an identity on the pitch.

However, while the likes of Levi Colwill have excelled in the Italian's new system, some players have struggled to adapt and they now face an uncertain future at Stamford Bridge. So, with that being said, football.london has looked at what business Chelsea should conduct in the upcoming transfer window.

Outgoings

The Blues could offload as many as seven players in January – the first of which being Ben Chilwell. The 27-year-old defender was heavily linked with an exit in the summer after falling out of favour under Maresca, but he failed to attract any interest.

The Chelsea boss demands his full-backs to be comfortable in possession, regardless of whether they're hugging the touchline or stepping in-field to support the build-up. Unfortunately for Chilwell, he's failed to impress in this department, meanwhile Renato Veiga has exceeded expectations.

Between the sticks, Robert Sanchez has raised eyebrows this season. The 26-year-old has made some great saves since joining the Blues from Brighton last year, but he's struggled to polish mistakes out of his game – whether that's stray passes into midfield or fouling opposition players down inside the box.

If Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart want Maresca to fulfil his potential at Chelsea then they should exchange Sanchez for a world-class goalkeeper. Next on the west Londoners' to-do list should be finding loans for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei, Deivid Washington and Marc Guiu.

Even if Chelsea can only find new clubs for a handful of the six aforementioned players, opportunities will arise for those who remain. All in all, according to Transfermarkt, the Blues could raise a respectable £35m (€42m) in January, excluding loan fees.

Incomings

As for incomings, Chelsea could have the opportunity to finally sign Victor Osimhen. football.london understands that the Blues submitted a bid for the 25-year-old striker on the day before the summer transfer window deadline.

It's believed that Chelsea offered to sign Osimhen on a season-long loan, which included an obligation-to-buy clause. Despite the west Londoners' best efforts, Winstanley and Stewart couldn't wrap up a deal for the Nigeria international.

football.london understands that Al-Ahli were in talks with Osimhen, with the Saudi Pro League club thought to have presented him an 'extortionate salary'. Instead, he decided to join Galatasaray on loan from Napoli for the remainder of the season.

The Italian club confirmed that they reached an agreement with Osimhen to retain the option to extend his contract until June 2027. A new deal would also reportedly reduce his release clause to €75m (£63m) from €130m (£110m) – which is almost in line with the €80m (£67m) offer from Al Ahli that Napoli reportedly accepted.

Osimhen has hit the ground running in Turkey, scoring six goals and providing four assists in his first eight games. That said, Nicolas Jackson has been just as impressive for Chelsea, so the Blues should only swoop in for the Nigerian if Christopher Nkunku were to leave – which seems unlikely.

As aforementioned, Maresca's side would certainly benefit from the addition of a world-class goalkeeper. Ederson was heavily linked with an exit from Manchester City in the summer, but a move failed to materialise.

While he'd be a good replacement for Sanchez, the west Londoners should consider signing Diogo Costa from Porto instead. Alternatively, I wouldn't be against bringing in Manuel Neuer either; he could take Filip Jorgensen under his wing for a season or two...

Final verdict

Ultimately, Chelsea need to trim down their first-team squad and sign a top goalkeeper in January. Ideally, the Blues should've signed a new striker – a different profile to Jackson, like Samu Omorodion – in the summer, but that ship sailed following the arrival of Joao Felix.

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