Chelsea are thought to be one of the teams in pole position to sign a teenage defender compared to Manchester City’s John Stones.
Chelsea signings 2023/24
The Blues, under the ownership of Todd Boehly, have spent big in recent years, with the current campaign being no different. Those at Stamford Bridge completed all of their incoming business in the summer, with a plethora of big-money deals being secured.
Chelsea summer signings | |
Axel Disasi (Monaco) | £38.5m |
Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal) | £30.1m |
Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig) | £52m |
Kendry Paez (Independiente del Valle) | £17.27m |
Robert Sanchez (Brighton) | £25m |
Moises Caicedo (Brighton) | £115m |
Lesley Ugochukwu (Rennes) | £23.5m |
Angelo Gabriel (Santos) | Undisclosed |
Alex Matos (Norwich) | Undisclosed |
Diego Moreira (Benfica) | Undisclosed |
Ishe Samuels-Smith (Everton) | Undisclosed |
Dujuan Richards (Phoenix All Stars Academy) | Undisclosed |
Romeo Lavia (Southampton) | £58m |
Deivid Washington (Santos) | £17.1m |
Djordje Petrovic (New England Revolution) | £14m |
Cole Palmer (Manchester City) | £42.5m |
All fees courtesy of Sky Sports |
The emphasis has been on bringing in young players on long-term deals, though, with an eye clearly on the future. However, manager Mauricio Pochettino, speaking earlier this month, admitted that things could have been going better on the pitch this season if the squad wasn’t so young.
“I am not picking the team because they are young. I don’t want to be the coach that picks the youngest team in England. We are a young team, but we have a good balance. We have players like Thiago Silva, 39, Raheem Sterling, [Christopher] Nkunku, 26, or [Axel] Disasi.
“The problem is not that the players are so young. The problem is that the team is young. With 16 or 17 players that have arrived new from the beginning of the season, you need to build a team.
“At the moment, maybe it’s not so good. If not, we could be in another position. It’s obvious.”
It looks as if Chelsea are continuing the trend of looking to bring in new teenagers, alongside marquee names such as Victor Osimhen, with an update emerging on one defender.
Chelsea and Arsenal leading race for defender
According to The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell, both Chelsea and Arsenal are out in front in the race to sign Lewis Carrol from Aberdeen. The 15-year-old defender could be on the move this summer and has been hailed as a “big talent” and “compared to John Stones in style”.
Should the Blues pip the Gunners to a deal for Carrol, then you’d expect that the youngster would go straight into Chelsea’s youth side next season.
The Blues have shown in the past that some of their academy gems could then be sent out on loan before looking to break into the first-team setup, so Carrol could look to follow in the footsteps of fellow defenders Reece James and Lewi Colwill.
A move will be one to keep an eye on over the coming months, and over time, Chelsea could look back on this as a shrewd move, should Carrol go on to fulfil his potential, developing into a player similar to Stones.
