Chelsea enquire for £39m forward as price tag slashed amid Dani Olmo transfer update

Enzo Maresca only has a few more days on the training pitches at Cobham before Chelsea jet off to the United States for their first pre-season game. Next week, the Blues will face Wrexham at the Levi’s Stadium in California – and the Italian will be hoping to mark his debut in the dugout with a win.

Chelsea have already welcomed a few new faces through the doors at Stamford Bridge to bolster Maresca’s squad, and more are expected to follow. After wrapping up a deal for Renato Veiga, the Blues appear to have reignited plans to sign a striker .

Victor Osimhen continues to be linked with a move to west London, while the ‘next Kylian Mbappe’ has recently emerged as a potential target. With that being said, ifeanyichukwu has rounded up the latest Chelsea news and transfer gossip on Friday, July 19.

Chelsea reignite Wahi interest

According to French newspaper L’Equipe , Chelsea have reignited their interest in Elye Wahi. The 21-year-old striker, who sees his contract at Stade Bollaert-Delelis expire in June 2028, featured 27 times for RC Lens in Ligue 1 last term, scoring nine goals and providing three assists . Playing a key role in Franck Haise’s side, Wahi helped Les Sang et finish seventh.

L’Equipe states that the France Under-23 international first attracted the west Londoners’ attention during his breakthrough season for Montpellier in 2022/23. It’s said that Chelsea have enquired about the possibility of signing Wahi, and they’re keen to learn his price tag before potentially submitting a bid; the CIES Football Observatory currently value the youngster between €33m (£27.8m) and €47m (£39.6m).

Toney price tag slashed

Tottenham have been given a major boost to their hopes of signing Ivan Toney this summer. The 28-year-old striker currently faces an uncertain future at Brentford, with his contract at the G-Tech Community Stadium set to expire in June 2025.

According to The Sun , Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United have all pulled out of the race to sign Toney this summer. The report states that the three clubs have all informed Thomas Frank’s side that they have no plans to bid for the England international.

So, in an effort to flog the striker, Brentford will reportedly slash Toney’s price tag to less than £50m. The Sun claim that the Bees had hoped to generate a bidding war for their frontman, but now only Spurs and West Ham remain as the most likely suitors.

Olmo update

Speaking to wettbasis.com , Gianluca Di Marzio provided an update on Dani Olmo’s future at RB Leipzig. The 26-year-old midfielder has been briefly linked with a move to Chelsea and Manchester City this summer following his impressive performances for Spain at Euro 2024.

“The problem with Dani Olmo is the timing of the deal,” said Di Marzio. “He has this exit clause ending on July 15 but after the European final, they decided to extend the date to July 20. So teams have 3 more days. “Manchester City, who had followed him for a lot of days, decided not to activate this clause. Chelsea as well. Barcelona was interested too but I don’t think they can pay two exit clauses, of Dani Olmo and Nico Williams, because of the financial problems that they have.”