Unusually for Chelsea of late, they’re not having things all their own way in the transfer market.
The Blues under Todd Boehly have become an organisation that has set the pace in the summer windows, whether on incomings or outgoings.
So far this summer, they’ve seen long-term target, Victor Osimhen, potentially slip through their fingers, and though the Nigerian hit-man hasn’t yet put pen to paper on a deal with Paris Saint-Germain, he’s nearer to doing exactly that with the French giants than he is with the West London outfit.
If the American was confident of making a splash with the signing of Spain’s brilliant Nico Williams too, it looks as though that deal is destined to fail as well.
?? Barcelona are increasingly confident to get final green light from Nico Williams to contract terms.
Club now confident about having convinced Nico about the project, with La Liga approval for Finacial Fair Play as key step.
More contacts to follow this week. pic.twitter.com/sUVIjpSXY5
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 22, 2024
According to transfer expert and CaughtOffside columnist, Fabrizio Romano, the Athletic Club flyer could well be signing for Barcelona.
He notes that the Catalan giants are increasingly confident of landing one of the players of Euro 2024, and his signing could really help Barca claw themselves back towards the top table of Spanish and European football.
Barca closing in on Chelsea target Williams
There’s still the small matter of Financial Fair Play for Barca to get around, though that would appear to be a formality if the narrative coming out of Catalonia is that the club are getting close.
They surely wouldn’t advance the same unless they felt that there was a genuine chance that the player had given the ‘thumbs up’ to any deal.
What that does do of course is show Boehly that just because he has the funds to throw around, it doesn’t necessarily mean that players who are best-in-class in their position are going to want to move to Stamford Bridge.
As storied an English outfit as they are, there’s been a real churn of players over the past couple of seasons and that type of modus operandi might not suit players looking for some career stability.
