Forgotten Chelsea transfer target sends message ahead of triple January dilemma for Pochettino

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino already knows one player who will be a target of his in the coming windows to complete a dream midfield at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have spent big in the engine room over the past two trading periods welcoming Enzo Fernandez for a club-record £106million in January before breaking that six months later to sign Moises Caicedo for £115million with Romeo Lavia also signing for £57million from Southampton.

With the bulk of their business done in the final month of the window, with Cole Palmer as one late arrival, Chelsea took some time to gel under Pochettino. Three Premier League defeats from their opening six games set a worrying precedent especially with goals also being hard to come by.

However, Pochettino appears to have now found a core group of starting players, minus injuries, and that has been reflected by recent results. The Blues are unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions with the only blemish being that they allowed Arsenal to come back from a two-goal deficit in a London derby at Stamford Bridge last weekend.

The hosts had full control of the game for 75 minutes but individual errors gave the Gunners a route back into the the contest which they duly took. The most impressive part of the display was how Chelsea completely nullified the likes of Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard with Caicedo, Fernandez and Gallagher comfortably dominating the midfield battle.

Caicedo and Fernandez have struck up an impressive partnership which allows the latter to get forward more while Gallagher is enjoying his best spell in a Chelsea shirt. Pochettino is also clearly a big fan of the England international, offering him the captaincy in the absence of Reece James, although some supporters still believe an improvement is needed in the role Gallagher plays and one perfect option has now emerged.

Spanish outlet Sport claim that the Blues are eyeing a move for Barcelona wonderkid Gavi, with an £87million price tag placed on any deal as financial difficulties continue to plague the Catalan giants. This comes after reports came to light regarding Chelsea’s new transfer structure which is said to see Pochettino identify the profile of a player he would like, with club chiefs then creating a short list of players that the Chelsea boss chooses from.

While signing another midfielder is perhaps unlikely, if Pochettino does want to sign another option in the mould of Gallagher, Gavi certainly seems as though he would be the top choice. “He is a tremendous talent, without limit,” Pochettino told AS in 2022. “He is a young boy who has to continue learning, but with the generosity and humility that he has on the field he will surely do it. Travel 13 kilometres!

“He is the one who travels the most in the games. That speaks of his character, of what we may see in the future. Football is not about running, but if you have the ability to do it you can improve and use space better.”