There has been a clear focus on potential at Chelsea in recent years by signing some of the world’s most exciting youngsters, and the transfer rumours suggest they’re not done yet.
The Blues squad for the 2024/25 campaign is stacked with so many young players. In fact, Chelsea’s average age is 23.6 in the Premier League this season (Transfermarkt).
On top of that, there’s an army of young loan players ready to come back to Stamford Bridge in the summer for pre-season.
Joe Cole’s message to Chelsea’s owners is they need to strike a balance between youth and experience in the squad because it simply doesn’t exist right now.
Chelsea target Jamie Gittens may only cost £42m
Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Jamie Gittens, 20, is one of the young players frequently linked with the Blues. In fact, Chelsea are considered favourites to sign Jamie Gittens in the summer transfer window.
The Athletic now claims that Gittens’ future is not likely to be resolved as soon as the transfer window begins.
Apparently, German Bundesliga club Dortmund have accepted the 20-year-old winger is likely to leave in the summer, but his valuation depends on what happens in the final stages of the season.
It is explained that the release clause in Gittens’ contract will be determined by which UEFA European competition Dortmund qualify for. The clause will be worth around €60m (£51m) if they qualify for the Champions League, but it’ll reduce if the club qualifies for the Europa League, Conference League or misses out on European football completely. In the worst-case scenario, the release clause could be below €50m (£42m).
The report adds that Chelsea are joined by Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Barcelona as admirers in Gittens. Chelsea’s own transfer business this summer will depend on if they qualify for the Champions League themselves, too.
Chelsea are prepared to double the wages of Jamie Gittens to get the English rising star to West London, but it’s an interesting development that the size of his release clause will be determined this month.
At the moment, Dortmund find themselves out of the Champions League positions going into the final two games of their league season.
| Position | Team | Matches played | Points |
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 32 | 76 |
| 2 | Bayer Leverkusen | 32 | 68 |
| 3 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 32 | 56 |
| 4 | Freiburg | 33 | 55 |
| 5 | Borussia Dortmund | 32 | 51 |
| 6 | Mainz | 33 | 51 |
| 7 | RB Leipzig | 33 | 51 |
| 8 | Werder Bremen | 33 | 48 |
Jamie Gittens has dropped off after blistering first half of the season
First of all, it’s worth noting that Gittens has already played 104 first-team matches in Dortmund colours.
The England Under-21 international is still a wonderkid with a bright career ahead of him, but you can probably judge him differently to most 20-year-olds.
In the first half of the season, Gittens was on fire for Dortmund, largely impressing as a left-winger. He’s found it a lot more challenging to keep the form up since Niko Kovac was appointed the new manager in January, though.
| Month | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| August | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| September | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| October | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| November | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| December | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| January | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| February | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| March | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| April | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| May | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The profile of player certainly ticks a huge box for Chelsea. While we do believe he could add decent competition for the current wingers at Stamford Bridge, they should perhaps stay clear unless the UEFA clause drives his price tag right now.
