Fabrizio Romano reveals whether Chelsea were actually close to signing Manu Kone

News

Matthew Judge | Editor

Chelsea were “never close” to signing Roma midfielder Manu Kone despite contrary reports in Italy, according to Fabrizio Romano.

There were reports in Italy on deadline day suggesting Kone had agreed personal terms with Chelsea as talks continued with Roma over a deal.

Chelsea are understood to have held genuine interest in signing the France international, 25, as a replacement for Enzo Fernandez.

However, the Blues ended up sanctioning Fernandez’s joint-British record transfer to Manchester City without bringing in a player of their own.

And Romano claims Kone was always unlikely to be that player, with Roma head coach Gian Piero Gasperini keen to keep hold of his star midfielder.

In a new YouTube video, Romano said: “Another story of deadline day, Manu Kone, we woke up with many media [outlets] in Italy saying Manu Kone is one step away, close, almost done to Chelsea.

“But the reality is that Chelsea were never close to signing Manu Kone. Chelsea called to understand the situation but Chelsea never closed the deal for Manu Kone. So that’s basically what happened.

“Roma were very clear: they did not want to sell the player. Manu Kone was not for sale and so nothing happened because, for Roma, Manu Kone was considered as an absolutely, absolutely crucial player.”

Chelsea saw Camara move collapse on deadline day

One midfielder who Chelsea were close to signing was Monaco star Lamine Camara but a proposed deal collapsed late on.

The 22-year-old had completed a medical ahead of a switch to Stamford Bridge, only for Monaco to pull the plug as Folarin Balogun edged closer to joining Everton.

Ligue 1 side Monaco needed to make one major sale and decided to proceed with the Balogun deal over the Camara sale - to the anger of Chelsea.

But in a dramatic end to the summer transfer window, Balogun refused to join Everton, meaning Monaco failed to make a crucial sale and Chelsea were left empty-handed.

Despite Camara’s move breaking down, Chelsea still sanctioned the sale of Fernandez to Man City for €145.7m (£125m) - making a €22m (£19m) profit on their investment in 2023.

Argentina international Fernandez, 25, was keen to reunite with Enzo Maresca, with the pair having previously worked together at Chelsea.

Chelsea made a profit on their player trading this summer

Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea made €447.8m (£383.8m) in sales this summer, with that figure set to rise once add-ons, loan fees and sell-on clauses are accounted for in the future.

The west London club also spent €406.7m (£348.6m) on new players, meaning they made a profit in what was a successful summer transfer window for the club.

Chelsea backed manager Alonso with the signings of Morgan Rogers, Maxence Lacroix, Marco Palestra, Pep Chavarria, Emiliano Martinez, Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson.

Geovany Quenda, Emmanuel Emegha, Denner and Dastan Satpaev also joined the six-time league champions on deals that were negotiated before Alonso’s appointment in May.

Meanwhile, Chelsea offloaded Fernandez, Andrey Santos, Nicolas Jackson, Marc Cucurella, Liam Delap, Trevoh Chalobah, Tyrique George, Marc Guiu and Tosin Adarabioyo on permanent deals.

And Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana, Satpaev, Alejandro Garnacho, Robert Sanchez, Mamadou Sarr, Axel Disasi, Filip Jorgensen, Dario Essugo and Mykhailo Mudryk left on loan.