Chelsea would reportedly need to fork out more than £70m to land Julian Alvarez this summer, with Manchester City keen to avoid a Cole Palmer repeat. There have been murmurings that Alvarez could leave the Etihad Stadium this window with the view of securing more assurances over game time, given Erling Haaland is unlikely to be usurped as number one pick.
Alvarez started 31 Premier League games last season but this was largely due to the long injury absence of Kevin De Bruyne. The World Cup winner started just two of Man City’s 10 Champions League matches last term.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are in the hunt for a new striker and have been tentatively linked with Alvarez. The Blues dealt with the champions last summer over the £45m deadline day arrival of Palmer, who became the club’s player of the season.
New head coach Enzo Maresca has already overseen seven signings this window. Striker Marc Guiu has been acquired from Barcelona but the Blues are expected to land another senior option. However, the club have set boundaries.
Football.london understands that the owners are adamant on not paying over the odds for a centre-forward and will not be pushed to panic buy as deadline day approaches – albeit a striker is very much on the agenda.
So the club might squirm at the price tag of Alvarez, who is priced at an initial £59m with add-ons of up to £17m, as per figures reported by The Athletic. That said, the club might be able to drum up a £76m fee.
A number of fringe players are expected to be sold before long, including Kepa Arrizabalaga and Romelu Lukaku. And with Trevoh Chalobah likely to leave after missing out on the pre-season tour squad, plus the anticipated exit of Armando Broja, Chelsea have the capability of raising a sizeable sum.
In actuality, the fee is perhaps more kind than it might be for a World Cup, Copa America and Champions League winner – not to mention his two Premier League titles. The main concern for Chelsea is their stance within Financial Fair Play. The club will be taking losses on both £97.5m
Lukaku and £72m Arrizabalaga, which will factor into the current three-year balance sheets within Profit & Sustainability Rules. It is why academy products such as Chalobah are being considered for sales, with Ian Maatsen already sold to Aston Villa for £37.5m.
Such fees count as pure profit, in that they cost nothing to bring in so all money from a sale would go into the green column. So, there are many factors to consider but Chelsea nevertheless seem slightly more mindful of their expenditure this time around.
