Chelsea one step away from sale that would trigger signing from Serie A | OneFootball

Chelsea are looking to sign Juventus winger Francisco Conceicao as a replacement for Pedro Neto this summer, according to reports.

The Blues finished tenth in the Premier League last season as Chelsea sacked Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior in a turbulent campaign.

There were some concerns that Chelsea could struggle to hold onto their best players or recruit well – but the Blues have already brought in Geovany Quenda (£44m, Sporting), Denner (£8.65m, Corinthians), Dastan Satpaev (£2m, Kairat Almaty), Emmanuel Emegha (£21.4m, Strasbourg), Marco Palestra (£49m, Atalanta), Morgan Rogers (£117m, Aston Villa), Maxence Lacroix (£52m, Crystal Palace), Danny Welbeck (£5m, Brighton), Valentin Barco (£34m, Strasbourg), Jordan Henderson (free, Brentford) and Pep Chavarria (£16.3m, Rayo Vallecano).

Marc Cucurella is the main starter who has been sold with Chelsea telling other clubs that players like Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro are untouchable this summer.

Another player who is likely to depart is Neto with the former Wolves man the subject of interest from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal and Tottenham.

Fabrizio Romano commented on Neto’s future earlier this week: “I think it’s between Spurs and Al Hilal in this moment for Pedro Neto. Pedro Neto is on Spurs’ list, but again the priority is Savinho.

“Then Al Hilal is also a possibility. Al Hilal made contact with his agent. Al Hilal are interested in the player. So these two names are going to keep us busy in the next days, Pedro Neto and Savinho.

“Manchester City also spoke to the agent a few weeks ago. They were interested because if Savinho goes to Tottenham, it was a possibility to consider Pedro Neto as an alternative. But Man City believed that the valuation made by Chelsea is way too high.

“Chelsea points at £100m. I think at the end it’s going to be less than this, but still too much for Manchester City. And so I think it’s between Al Hilal and Tottenham.”

But Romano ruled out a Tottenham move for Neto on Friday as they closed in on a deal for Savinho, he said: “Roberto De Zerbi wanted him. The backup was Pedro Neto, but again, backup with maximum respect for Pedro Neto, who is a fantastic player and who is an option for Al Hilal. But Roberto De Zerbi wanted Savinho as an absolute priority, and he is getting Savinho.”

When Neto does leave, Chelsea already have a plan with Italian newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport revealing that Conceicao could now rise to the top of the Blues’ list to replace the Portugal international.

The report adds: ‘Mendes is one step away from finalising Pedro Neto’s transfer to Al Hilal, since the Arabs’ latest bid significantly brings Chelsea’s offer closer, and the wall could crumble soon. At that point, through the same intermediary, after having timidly considered Leao (who, however, fails to convince Chelsea), Conceiçao could be at the top of the London club’s list, even though the Juventus winger would prefer to remain in Turin.’

Gazzetta Dello Sport insists that Juventus could find it hard to reject a bid from Chelsea this summer and continues: ‘Juventus is listening and waiting until the end of the transfer window to determine which course of action to pursue to stay balanced. The feeling is that they may end the summer sacrificing a top player, but much will also depend on the opportunities that arise. Conceiçao’s desire is to stay, seeing Juventus as an ideal environment to express himself and continue his development.’

Chelsea will be top of the PL after five matches – Terry

Chelsea legend John Terry reckons the Blues will be top of the Premier League table after five matches this season.

Terry said on TikTok: “For him [Alonso], you really want to get off to a winning start, so you want to win your first game, you can get momentum from that.

“I remember years ago when Jose Mourinho came back, Burnley away we went 1-0 down after 20 odd minutes, came back to win the game with an unbelievable touch and finish and pass from Cesc Fabregas to Andre Schurrle.

“Just from that moment you could just feel something was happening. So as players, you have to be very confident but also you feel the momentum, you can feel things are right.

“If they are right off the pitch and around the place, which they are because I’ve been around it myself – you can see and feel it – and we have bigger and better players coming back from the World Cup that haven’t even met up with the first-team yet.

“I think you can only be excited. So I think for him, looking at these first five games, I would be expecting three to four wins and maybe a couple of draws.

“Off to a great start and Chelsea sitting top of the league after five games is my prediction.”