Chelsea and Todd Boehly are moving ever closer to another addition at Stamford Bridge this summer, according to reports, with the Blues having made a breakthrough over one of their targets in the last 48 hours.
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New Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was handed the toughest possible debut in the Stamford Bridge dugout as his side hosted Manchester City in their Premier League opener on Sunday.
He named a side that didn't include any of his new signings from the summer window, though long-term absentees Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku and Wesley Fofana were all handed starts.
In what was for much of the game an even fight, a first half goal from Erling Haaland was added to by former Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic late on, with the Croatian running past both Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez (who Chelsea spent £230m on to replace Kovacic) before firing past Robert Sanchez to hand City a 2-0 win.
Despite the result, it was a positive performance from the Blues and Maresca was happy with what he saw.
"The performance was good and we competed against the best team in the world. We played well and created chances. The biggest difference was inside the box and how they managed the ball at the end, they are a master. We don't like to lose games but the performance was good", he explained after the game.
"We can for sure improve many things, we've been together for just six weeks. At the same moment, we liked to analyse the game and we tried to play football and create chances. It's not easy but we did well."
Now, in the final days of the window, the Chelsea boss is set to be handed another player to try and fit into his already bloated squad.
Chelsea on the verge of signing "special" star
That comes with reports in Spain revealing that the Blues are 'on the verge' of re-signing Joao Felix on a permanent deal this summer. The Portuguese attacker, of course, has already spent time at Stamford Bridge. He joined the club on loan from Atletico Madrid back in January 2023, going on to make 20 appearances across all competitions despite being sent off on his debut.
Though he has struggled to find a permanent home in recent seasons, he remains a top talent and retains much of what caused Alvaro Morata to dub him "special" back in 2022.
"The truth is that Joao has a special talent," the former Blues forward explained after helping Atleti to a win over Getafe.
Felix still has five years left to run on his £100,000 a week deal at the Wanda Metropolitano but it was always likely he would depart this summer after falling out with Diego Simeone, and Chelsea have pounced.
According to reports in Spain [via Sport Witness], he is now "on the verge" of joining Chelsea as part of a deal that will allow Conor Gallagher to head the other way. The Blues will receive £34m for Gallagher, while the report claims that they will pay £43m to sign Felix permanently.
Should he join as planned, the 24-year-old will become yet another player for Maresca to try and fit into his squad, having notably left Raheem Sterling out of the Premier League opener and only utilising £54m signing Pedro Neto from the bench.