The transfer window has begun to stirand having put the restrictions imposed by the British government behind them, Chelsea are ready to join the fray for big signings. The Blues have a new owner, Todd Boehly bought the club in exchange for £4.25 billion, and the American does not want to disappoint the fans.
According to The Telegraph, Boehly will hand over a £200 million budget to Thomas Tuchel to build a world-class team. And according to reports, the American has already delivered the first £100 million.
In this context, as reported by The Telegraph, Tuchel will now have a greater influence on arrivals and departures in his squad. The German will continue to work in tandem with sporting director Marina Granovskaia and technical and performance advisor Peter Cech, only now they will instead be focused on delivering on the players the manager recommends. And it seems that they already know who they will sign for the new season.
Ousmane Dembele has reportedly agreed to join Chelsea
The player chosen by Tuchel to be Chelsea’s first reinforcement in the Boehly era is Ousmane Dembele. The French player will not renew his contract with Barcelonaand will become a free agent as of July 1.
The 25-year-old was closely followed by PSGand Liverpool, but according to Le10sport, Dembele has chosen to join Chelsea. A few weeks ago, Alex Crook said: “This one has really taken off overnight. Chelsea look like they are favorites to sign Ousmane Dembele on a free transfer. He’s been letting his contract run down at Barcelona, and he would be the first signing of the Todd Boehly era”.
Ousmane Dembele of FC Barcelona / Matt King/Getty Images
Perhaps one of the reasons why Dembele would have agreed to join Chelsea is because he was already coached by Tuchel when they were both at Borussia Dortmund. Under Tuchel, the forward made 45 appearances and scored 10 goals.
“He’s a very good player when he’s at his best. I’m very fortunate to have coached him during my time at Dortmund. It was only one year; it should have been more. I needed to leave and he decided to leave”, the German said of the 25-year-old.
In the 2021-2022 season, Dembele played 19 games for Barcelona out of 33 possible matches, scored 3 goals, and provided 13 assists, making him La Liga’s top assist man. The French currently earns 9,900,000 euros per year.
