The £40 million star agrees to join Chelsea this week

Chelsea’s opening Premier League match will be under three weeks, but it doesn’t look like Enzo Maresca has finished his transfer business.

Despite adding a lot of talent to an already bloated team, including Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens, the Italians are still looking for players to attack.

Over the past few weeks, Tyler Diving, Karimu Adeemeemi and even Real Madrid starlet Goncaro Garcia have all been linked to the move towards Stamford Bridge.

The initial link has been established, but there is no specific yet regarding any of these three players.

All Maresca’s attention has been addressed by the potential relocation of Zabi Simons in the Netherlands.

The RB Leipzig starlet is bordered near the move to the Blues, and given his performance in the Bundesliga from the summer of 2023, will he be the club’s last offensive jigsaw?

It can potentially move at some point this week, but what will the previous PSG feel bring to Chelsea?

Why is Chelsea trying to sign Zabi Simons?

On Sunday, journalist Ben Jacobs provided an update on X regarding the club’s pursuit of the attacked midfielder.

“Chelsea Advancing is in talks with Zabi Simons. The conditions are wide and right now,” Jacobs said. “A club-to-club talk is ongoing, and Chelsea was hoping to make its first formal offer right after the oral discussion over numbers.

Once everything goes to plan, Maresca can welcome Simons to Stamford Bridge.

The playmaker will cost £70 million reported to Chelsea, but on the surface, this may be money that London outfits will spend well.

The Blues will return to the Champions League for the first time since 2022/23. So it makes perfect sense to sign someone who can make a difference in this competition.

Progress, Simons. Compared to his position peers in the Champions League last season, the Dutch starlet was sublime across a variety of performance metrics.

Not only did he rank in the top 9% for successful take-ons per 90 (1.88), but the 22-year-old also ranked in the top 2% for shot-making action (5.91) and in the top 11% for progressive carry (3.22) in the European Premier Club Competition.

The club’s success at this summer’s Club World Cup has heightened ambitions ahead of European competition, so signing Simons gave Maresca the chance to lead his team deeper into the tournament.

Given that Joanne Felix appears to be on the way in the coming days, there’s space for Simons to go in as Chelsea is collecting the same fee he paid him a year ago.

Despite his obvious strengths and growth potential, should Bruce really make him sign first?

Certainly, it can be argued that their defense requires more work before the Premier League campaign.

Chelsea is locked up in another signature

Links to offensive players appear to be growing every day, but not many defenders link to the transition to the club.

However, one player the club has shown much interest is Ajax starlet Jorrel Hato.

According to Fabrizio Romano, the Bruce will “directly contact” with Hato regarding potential deals. Romano also states that the pigeons “want Chelsea.”

Athletic David Ornstein also reports that personal terms have already been agreed to close to transactions that may already be worth £40 million.

The team is piled up a lot from an offensive perspective, but there’s no doubt that Chelsea will need another couple defender to renew things.

Thus, will the pigeons turn out to be even better signatures than Simons ahead of the 2025/26 campaign?

Why Doves Will Sign Better than Chelsea’s Simons

One of the reasons why Maresca is keen to add teenagers to his team is certainly due to his positional flexibility.

In his embryonic career so far, Doto played 88 games at left back and 70 games as centre back.

However, last season, the 19-year-old was active on the left side of the defense, and he continued to show off his defensive talent.

At eredivisie. The defenders helped Ajax maintain 1.9 tackles with an average of 1.9 tackles and 0.7 intercepts, and maintain 11 clean sheets while he was dribbled by only 0.3 times per match.

In addition to his eight goal contributions, Hato was able to create six big chances on the top flight, but showed enough offensive intentions for the club as he averaged 0.6 key passes per match.

Furthermore, when compared to his position peers in a league similar to the Dutch top flights over the past 365 days, the pigeon ranked in the top 5% (0.21) with assists per 90 (0.21) and in the top 11% (2.33) of touches per 90 (2.33).

For this evidence, the pigeons provide plenty on both ends of Chelsea’s pitch, giving Maresca a huge boost.

There was no doubt that the 2024/25 season was his major breakout campaign for the Dutch giants.

“Jorrel Hato has had a great season,” Kulig said. A great mix of complete fullbacks, playmaking fullbacks and ballplay center backs. Over 100 games from Ajax and 6 caps from 19 Oranje.

Simons brings something special to the Chelsea offensive division. There is no doubt about that. Only 22 years old, he will only move from strength to strength in the next few years.

The pigeon, meanwhile, may turn out to be a better signature on the Stamford Bridge outfit, given the Blues already piled up in the offensive area.

By signing both players, they will make yet another intentional statement by Maresca. Chelsea will be the strength to be referred to this season if their team can gel quickly.