Chelsea have offloaded two of the players they want out of the club, with Romelu Lukaku joining Napoli in an initial €30m (£25.2m) deal and Kepa Arrizabalaga moving to Bournemouth on a season’s loan.
Lukaku rejoined Chelsea three years ago for a club record £97.5m but has spent the past two seasons on loan in Italy and has been reunited at Napoli with Antonio Conte, under whom he thrived at Internazionale from 2019 to 2021.
The striker has not played since May 2022 for Chelsea, who are cautiously optimistic of convincing Victor Osimhen to join them from Napoli on a salary that fits their wage structure. Osimhen has been given a huge offer from Al-Ahli and there could be a late move for the Nigeria international from Paris Saint-Germain.
A new striker remains a priority for Enzo Maresca, who is wary of pressing ahead with Nicolas Jackson as his only senior No 9 in his squad, but Chelsea are not sure about a move for Brentford’s Ivan Toney.
They are continuing to work on a deal to sign Jadon Sancho from Manchester United, although the winger also has the option of a loan to Juventus.
Arrizabalaga and Lukaku had been training away from the first-team group. In 2018, Arrizabalaga became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper after joining Chelsea from Athletic Bilbao in a deal worth £71.6m but he spent last season on loan at Real Madrid.
Arrizabalaga progressed through the ranks at Athletic towards the end of the Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola’s long spell as a player at the club. Bournemouth were also interested in a move for Aaron Ramsdale but the Arsenal goalkeeper is poised to join Southampton in a £25m deal.
Iraola said of Arrizabalaga before the transfer was confirmed: “It will provide us the experience he has from playing with Chelsea, Real Madrid and the pressure that comes with playing in those kinds of games. It will add competition to the team.”
The out-of-favour Arrizabalaga signed a new contract with Chelsea before moving to Bournemouth, ensuring his parent club retain maximum value of the player. His deal had been due to expire next summer but now runs for a further year.
The Bournemouth chief executive, Neill Blake, said he was “delighted to bring a player of Kepa’s calibre” to the club. Bournemouth have also signed Dean Huijsen and Evanilson from Juventus and Porto respectively this summer.
Another Chelsea goalkeeper, Djordje Petrovic, is going to Strasbourg on loan after losing his place to Robert Sánchez and Filip Jörgensen. Armando Broja’s proposed loan to Ipswich is not expected to go through.
Wolves are interested in signing Nayef Aguerd on loan from West Ham. The Morocco centre-back is out of favour at the London Stadium and any deal would involve Wolves covering a portion of his salary of about £90,000 a week. West Ham are keen to move Aguerd raise funds before trying to complete a deal for the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Carlos Soler.
Aguerd, who joined West Ham from Rennes for £28m two years ago, has turned down a loan to Wolfsburg and is understood to be assessing his options. There has been interest from the Middle East.
Julen Lopetegui has been revamping his defence since replacing David Moyes. West Ham have signed Max Kilman from Wolves and Jean-Clair Todibo on an initial loan from Nice. Wolves are looking for defensive reinforcements after losing Kilman and are close to signing the Crystal Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
West Ham want to move several players before the transfer window shuts on Friday night. Kurt Zouma is undergoing a medical with Al-Orobah of the Saudi Pro League and Southampton are interested in signing Maxwel Cornet on loan. West Ham will listen to offers for James Ward-Prowse but the midfielder is not in a rush to leave. Danny Ings, the former Southampton striker, could depart.
