Chelsea are in ongoing talks with Neymar-like forward

Chelsea are continuing to work on their summer recruitment plans, even after the pre-Club World Cup transfer deadline passed at 7pm on Tuesday, with manager Enzo Maresca still able to add new players to his squad midway through the tournament.

How Chelsea can still introduce new signings for the Club World Cup

It was thought that the mini-summer window, which opened from June 1 to June 10, would be Chelsea’s only opportunity to strengthen ahead of their CWC campaign.

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Stamford Bridge chiefs have a very high opinion of him.

It was, after all, why the window was introduced in the first place – to hand competing teams a chance to register new players after long and gruelling 2024/2025 campaigns.

However, as per Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol in the last few days, Chelsea and other sides taking part in the tournament will also have a unique registration period to benefit from midway through the CWC.

From June 27 to July 3, just after the group stages finish, teams will be given the chance to add new players to their CWC roster – which allows Chelsea to introduce new signings who could take part in the knockout phase – if they indeed make it that far.

Chelsea missed out on deals for both AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan and Borussia Dortmund’s Jamie Gittens before the pre-CWC window deadline, with the west Londoners walking away from the former after refusing to meet Milan’s asking price.

Chelsea made three last-minute bids for Gittens as well, but none of them could satisfy Dortmund, who kept demanding more and more money for the English sensation.

It is unclear whether Chelsea will maintain their pursuit of Gittens in time for the CWC unique registration period starting on June 27, but they could perhaps turn to Eintracht Frankfurt sensation Hugo Ekitike instead.

Chelsea in ongoing talks for Hugo Ekitike after pre-Club World Cup deadline

There are reports that Chelsea believe Ekitike could eventually rival Newcastle United star Alexander Isak, which is how highly they rate the Frenchman after his exceptional 22-goal campaign.

According to Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Chelsea are maintaining talks for Ekitike, despite failing to sign him in time for the CWC, so he’s still very much “one to watch”.

“Chelsea and Ekitike remain in talks for the summer transfer window – but Liverpool are still in the race,” said Plettenberg.

“One to watch in the coming weeks.”

The 22-year-old is very highly-rated, with ex-Inter Milan star Wesley Sneijder even calling him a blend of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, so Ekitike could well be worth the punt – but not for his ridiculously high price tag of around £84 million.

“I think he’s a mix between Neymar and [Kylian] Mbappé. I sincerely think so,” said Sneijder.

“He has the grace of Neymar, but also the movements of Mbappé. To suddenly accelerate, that’s something that Mbappé also has. And he’s only 22 years old. There’s really a lot of potential in this boy.”