Sources: Chelsea eye trio of exciting young talents as attacking midfield transfer remains key priority

Chelsea are set to make an attacking midfielder a priority in the transfer market in the coming year after missing out on Xavi Simons in the summer, CaughtOffside understands.

The Blues had a busy summer bringing in exciting talents such as Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Jorrel Hato and Alejandro Garnacho, but their recruitment team continues to be busy assessing future targets.

Sources with a close understanding of Chelsea’s plans have informed CaughtOffside that the west London giants will now focus on Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers as one of their top targets for January or next summer.

Chelsea’s interest in signing Rogers is no secret, with the England international having been on their radar during the summer, while other top clubs have also been impressed by his form for Villa.

Chelsea exploring Morgan Rogers and other transfer targets

Sources have also informed CaughtOffside that Juventus’ Kenan Yildiz is on Chelsea’s radar, along with Lyon’s Malick Fofana.

Although Tottenham ended up winning the race for Xavi Simons, Chelsea were also really keen on bringing him in as well as Garnacho late on in the window.

In the end, only Garnacho was possible, but CFC will set aside funds for at least one more top attacking midfield player in the months ahead.

Rogers is well liked by Chelsea’s recruitment team, but Yildiz and Fofana are two other names to watch if a deal proves too expensive or complicated to get done.

Villa are understandably keen to hold on to Rogers, but could also be in a strong position to invite a bidding war as other clubs such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City could get involved.

Chelsea missed out on Xavi Simons and Ethan Nwaneri

Chelsea also notably had a genuine and concrete interest in Arsenal youngster Ethan Nwaneri during the summer.

In the end, Nwaneri ended up signing a new contract with the Gunners, but Charles Watts has previously told us about the Blues’ interest.

“Arsenal were always quite calm about Nwaneri’s situation, but with just a year remaining of his old deal it was an issue that needed resolving,” Watts said of Chelsea’s interest in Nwaneri.

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“Chelsea were interested, just as they were before Nwaneri signed his first professional contract with the club in March, 2024.”

He added: “While there may have been strong interest, Nwaneri’s preference was always to stay at Arsenal and the club were always confident he would stay.”