Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano expects “smart” transfer window for Chelsea this January

Chelsea are likely to try for a smart transfer window this January, according to Fabrizio Romano as he spoke exclusively to CaughtOffside via the Debrief Podcast.

By ‘smart’, Romano means there will be a bit more order to what Chelsea are doing after what has been a busy and chaotic period for the Blues due to so much change in personnel, both on and off the pitch, in the last year or more.

More specifically, Romano said that we can probably expect Chelsea to try for a new striker, with Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Brentford’s Ivan Toney again named as the players on their radar, even if they won’t necessarily be easy deals to get done.

Romano still says he can’t see Osimhen leaving Napoli in January, meaning Toney could be more realistic, though negotiations have not yet started.

“I expect Chelsea to be smart – at the moment there is no news, after years of many stories about owners, directors, managers, players. This is the best way,” Romano said to Angus Scott and Ben Jacobs on today’s show.

“A striker remains a priority, we’ve mentioned Victor Osimhen, Ivan Toney. Nothing has changed for Osimhen and I don’t see him moving in January … in the summer it could be different.

“With Toney the situation could be different – he wants to play for a top, top club and Chelsea are still interested. Let’s see if they will attack the situation but they haven’t opened negotiations yet.”

On Chelsea’s plans for a new defender, Romano added: “I expect Trevoh Chalobah to leave Chelsea in January and for them to explore options for a new centre-back – that’s one of the players they want to prioritise in 2024.”

Chelsea fans will no doubt hope the club have something smart up their sleeve, though a quiet window also wouldn’t go amiss for precisely