Chelsea Could Restart Kone Talks in January, Gittens Previously Asked to Leave

Chelsea could make another attempt to sign Roma midfielder Kone in January, while Gittens previously told the club that he wanted to leave and join Roma. The deal could potentially involve a swap between the two players.

Summer negotiations collapsed due to a lack of time

According to Simon Phillips, Chelsea assessed Kone during the summer transfer window, and Gittens also told the club that he wanted to leave and join Roma. Chelsea lost Enzo Fernandez on deadline day, with the player moving to Manchester City, while the Blues also missed out on Lamine Camara.

Phillips previously revealed in another Substack article that Chelsea and Camara were both unhappy after Monaco cancelled the deal at the final stage. If Chelsea stop pursuing Camara due to difficulties in negotiations with Monaco, Kone would be a suitable alternative.

Roma only wanting to loan Gittens becomes an obstacle

While discussing the possibility of a Kone-Gittens swap, Phillips wrote: “SPTC sources understand that Chelsea plan to contact Roma again soon to discuss signing midfielder Kone in the winter window.”

“The two clubs held talks over Kone during the summer deadline week, but in the end it was too late and too rushed for any agreement to be reached. Roma were very willing to discuss selling Kone, but the clubs ultimately could not find a solution, and Chelsea turned to Lamine Camara with time running out.”

“Part of the issue was that Roma wanted to sign Gittens from Chelsea as part of the Kone deal. This would clearly need to be handled as a separate formal transfer. If the two clubs want to complete the operation, there are many matters to resolve, and Gittens himself would also need to agree to join Roma.”

“Kone is very interested in Chelsea, while Gittens had actually approached Chelsea and asked the club to allow him to leave on a permanent transfer. Chelsea had told Roma they were willing to sell Gittens to them during the Kone negotiations, but Roma only wanted to loan him.”

Gittens could return to negotiations

Phillips added: “Our sources understand that Gittens is likely to re-enter talks between Chelsea and Roma over Kone if Chelsea consider bringing in a new midfielder in January. His agent began looking for other options at the end of the transfer window, but it ultimately became too rushed for all parties.”

Gittens had previously asked about the possibility of leaving Chelsea, which is not surprising as his situation at Stamford Bridge has indeed not been ideal.