Overview
- Chelsea sold Enzo Fernández to Manchester City for £125 million and did not sign a direct central midfielder before the English transfer window closed.
- The club looked at Fulham’s Sander Berge as a late option but did not make a formal bid and Fulham made him unavailable to buyers.
- Reported deadline attempts for Monaco’s Lamine Camara and Roma’s Manu Koné collapsed with a Camara agreement said to have fallen through minutes before the deadline.
- Claims that Chelsea approached Everton’s James Garner were publicly denied by manager David Moyes, leaving the club reliant on internal options instead of new signings.
- Early-season matches exposed the shortfall in midfield as Moisés Caicedo has fitness issues and Romeo Lavia is still building sharpness, making a January signing a likely priority for Chelsea and affecting selection and tactics in the meantime.