Chelsea ‘will sign’ midfielder as interest in £179m Prem pair confirmed | OneFootball

Chelsea ‘will sign’ at least one midfielder in 2026 as a report has detailed their previous interest in a pair of expensive Premier League stars.

The Blues have as many as eight players in their squad who can play as central midfielders. That includes right-backs Malo Gusto and Reece James, who have both been deployed there at times this term to ease the strain of injuries to some.

Romeo Lavia and Dario Essugo are both currently injured, while Cole Palmer has just returned from a spell on the sidelines.

To further ease any issues they may have, The Telegraph reports Chelsea ‘will sign at least one new midfielder’ in 2026, likely coming in the summer as the club doesn’t expect to be able to use the January window to improve their squad.

With Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez both having played over 1500 minutes this season – Fernandez the most of any Blues player – the club want to introduce new options to ensure they don’t have to play every single minute.

The report details how Chelsea previously showed interest in Kobbie Mainoo and considered signing Adam Wharton when he was at Blackburn, prior to his move to Crystal Palace.

Of late, both men have stayed linked to the Stamford Bridge outfit, with a lot of clubs after the pair.

Mainoo will reportedly cost £79million if any club is to land him, while Wharton’s price tag is said to be £100million and above.

The report details a view that it is unclear whether, having spent north of £100million on both Caicedo and Fernandez, they’ll spend big again, or look to find a player whose value will quickly increase.

There is precedent for doing that, having signed Palmer for £40million, and he’s surely worth comfortably above £100million now.

The report states that alongside a new midfielder, Chelsea could make a move for a central defender in 2026.

It is felt that the club will see how Levi Colwill progresses upon his return from injury to make a decision on that, while they also have Aaron Anselmino and Mamadou Sarr to return from loans, who could push their way into the reckoning.

As such, there’s a chance Chelsea could be somewhat busy in 2026, though whether big moves are made or they attempt to simply plug gaps and remain with a similar team to what they have now, remains to be seen.