Alex Scott and Morgan Gibbs-White IN: How Chelsea could've lined up this season

Updated: 8 Sept 2026 16:37 BST | 4 min read

Morgan Gibbs-White, Alex Scott, Chelsea — © IMAGO

Cameron Smith | Digital Content Producer

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Chelsea were extremely active in the transfer market over the summer, with the club sanctioning a host of deals in a bid to perfect the squad at Xabi Alonso’s disposal.

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Over €400 million was spent on new signings before the end of Transfer Deadline Day, but the Blues concluded the summer window with a positive net spend thanks to a number of impressive sales, including Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City, Nicolas Jackson to Aston Villa and Liam Delap to Nottingham Forest.

However, despite their eye-catching business in the market, Chelsea still missed out on several of their key targets over the summer.

Below, FootballTransfers looks at how Chelsea could’ve lined up this season if they had landed some of their alternative transfer targets.

Current ETV

Morgan Gibbs-White

AM, M (C)

N. Forest

Morgan Gibbs-White

AM, M (C)

N. Forest

ETV Range

€41.3M - €50.5M

How Chelsea could’ve lined up in 2026-27

Chelsea looked destined to retain faith in Robert Sanchez this season, but a major blunder in their opening fixture of the new season versus Fulham cost him his starting XI place, with the club moving quickly to sign Emiliano Martinez.

Sanchez subsequently joined Como on a season-long loan deal and it’s likely that his Chelsea career will end permanently next year. Meanwhile, Martinez will be the club’s number one until Mike Penders is ready.

Chelsea identified Jan Paul van Hecke, Jacobo Ramon and Maxence Lacroix as their three centre-back targets for this summer, and they ultimately decided to finalise a €60.7m deal for the latter following his eye-catching form for Crystal Palace.

With Alonso using a back-three so far this season, Levi Colwill has been shifted to a slightly awkward left-sided centre-back role, which doesn’t suit him particularly well, while Josh Acheampong and Wesley Fofana look set to share duties on the right. However, club captain Reece James would’ve been an option in that role if Chelsea had convinced Bournemouth to sell Alex Scott.

© IMAGO - Chelsea wanted to sign Alex Scott this summer

It has been widely reported that Scott was Chelsea’s primary midfield target throughout the summer window, but Bournemouth refused to sell, which led them to their failed pursuits of Lamine Camara and Manu Kone.

If Scott had arrived, however, he would’ve been deployed alongside Moises Caicedo in an excellent double pivot behind the exciting front three of Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro.

Meanwhile, it’s understood that Morgan Gibbs-White has several admirers at Chelsea and the club were eager to explore a possible deal for the England star following the sale of Fernandez to Man City.

Gibbs-White likely would’ve been a rotation option had he secured a Stamford Bridge switch, although his arrival would have elevated the level of Chelsea’s attacking depth by a significant margin.