Chelsea will play their first pre-season friendly of the summer when they face Western Sydney Wanderers later this month.
Xabi Alonso officially became the Blues’ manager at the start of July and took charge of his first training sessions last week, although some players are yet to return having featured for their respective nations at the World Cup.
The west London outfit will play a string of matches in Australia and Asia in the coming weeks, including games against fierce London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, as well as Italian giants Juventus and AC Milan.
Ahead of the start of their pre-season campaign, it has been revealed that Chelsea remain in contention to sign a talented midfielder this summer.
As per CaughtOffside, Chelsea are still in the running to land Crystal Palace star Adam Wharton during the current transfer window.
The Englishman joined the Eagles from boyhood club Blackburn Rovers back in 2024 and made an instant impact at Selhurst Park before being included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the European Championships in Germany in 2024.
Wharton helped Crystal Palace to win the Europa Conference League last term (Photo: Sportimage Ltd/Alamy)
In total he has now made 96 appearances for the south London outfit and, while he has been capped four times by the Three Lions, he didn’t feature at Euro 2024 and was also omitted from Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man squad for the World Cup this summer.
Wharton was part of the Palace side that won the Europa Conference League last term, but his impressive displays didn’t go unnoticed and he has been linked with several top Premier League clubs.
The report suggests that Tottenham Hotspur are no longer in the running to land the midfielder after signing both Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, while Liverpool have also cooled their interest in the player.
Manchester United were another side interested in Wharton, but the Red Devils are now said to have been deterred by Palace’s likely high demands for the Englishman, with the report suggesting that the Eagles could demand a fee similar to the £116 million that Manchester City are set to pay to sign Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson.
Chelsea, meanwhile, remain in the race to land the midfielder and are still in contact with the player’s representatives, the report says.