'My understanding': £80m player won't be sold to Chelsea or any other team this summer - Fabrizio Romano

It now looks like Chelsea will not have a chance at signing one in-form attacker this summer.

Chelsea may need to enter the transfer market before the 2024/25 season to bring in a new attacking midfielder.

Mauricio Pochettino has not been using Cole Palmer in the No.10 position and the player that he does, Conor Gallagher, could be leaving at the end of the campaign.

Gallagher is about to enter the final year of his contract, and it has been claimed that the midfielder has already accepted the fact that he may have to leave Chelsea in the summer.

If he goes and Pochettino wants to keep Palmer on the right, then Chelsea probably will need to sign a No.10.

Photo by Markus Gilliar – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images

Chelsea and other clubs will not be able to sign £80m attacking midfielder

In the Bundesliga, there are some top attackers right now.

Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala and RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo are just a couple of names that come to mind.

There is Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz as well. He just helped his club to win the Bundesliga and end Bayern’s dominance of the competition.

Towards the end of last year, the Daily Star claimed that Chelsea were interested in signing Wirtz in a potential £80m deal. However, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano cannot see him being sold this summer.

In his Substack column, Romano said: “My understanding is that Leverkusen could sell one player, it could happen; but I don’t see them selling more than one.

“Xabi Alonso decided to stay also because the club will back him on the market and keeping the main part of this group is crucial, so my expectation is for maximum one top, top player leaving, but not Florian Wirtz.”

Florian Wirtz’s contribution to Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga triumph

Without him, Leverkusen probably could not have won the Bundesliga title. He won games for Xabi Alonso’s side, proving to be extremely effective in the final third.

In 29 league appearances, Wirtz scored 11 goals and provided another 10 assists. If Chelsea have been tracking the Germany international, then they would have been impressed with what he has displayed.

It is a shame that the 20-year-old now looks unavailable. He could have been a great attacking addition to Pochettino’s squad.