30 Jul 2026 10:51 BST |
5 min read
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Chelsea are yet to finalise a deal for Rayo Vallecano left-back Pep Chavarria and the Spaniard’s proposed move to Stamford Bridge appears to have stalled over the last week.
It’s understood that personal terms were agreed with the 28-year-old in early July, however talks with Rayo Vallecano are yet to result in a transfer fee agreement and the deal is seriously at risk of collapsing.
Chelsea were initially hoping to finalise a deal for a mere €9 million, but their opening offer of this value was swiftly rejected by Rayo Vallecano, who reportedly demanded around €25m to sanction a sale.
Subsequent bids worth a reported €15m and €25m were also turned down by the Spanish outfit and it has been widely suggested they are now pointing to Chavarria’s release clause of €50m. This is understood to have angered Chelsea officials, who were initially led to believe that a deal could be finalised for a far cheaper fee, and the transfer is now in doubt.
New Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has reportedly played a pivotal role in the Blues’ pursuit of Chavarria, but the 28-year-old’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) stands at just €10m and the club are unsurprisingly unwilling to trigger his release clause at present.
As a result, the deal has completely stalled. However, an obvious solution to the problem may have presented itself during the early weeks of pre-season.
Could Chelsea promote Landon Emenalo?
Alonso has initially used a 4-2-3-1 system during pre-season and it has been widely rumoured that Jorrel Hato will be promoted to become the club’s new first-choice left-back following the €55m sale of Marc Cucurella to Real Madrid.
Chavarria is viewed as the perfect back-up option to the Dutchman, with summer signing Geovany Quenda capable of playing as a left wing-back if Alonso opts to revert to the 3-4-3 system that served him so well at Bayer Leverkusen.
Hato’s debut season at Stamford Bridge was extremely promising and he deserves the opportunity to begin the 2026-27 campaign as the Blues’ preferred left-back following his form last term. However, with a deal for Chavarria proving to be extremely difficult to finalise, Alonso may be tempted to simply promote Landon Emenalo into a regular first-team role as the back-up option to Hato.
The 18-year-old is naturally a defensive midfielder, but he has consistently played at left-back for Chelsea and England at youth level, and he is understood to have caught Alonso’s eye during pre-season training.
The teenager was one of Chelsea’s standout academy players last season, and he has been handed a prominent role during Alonso’s first few weeks at the club, with the Spaniard reportedly impressed by his skillset and application.
Fellow academy stars such as Reggie Watson and Reggie Walsh have also caught the eye, however Emenalo appears to be the most likely youngster to be promoted by Alonso. Furthermore, the 18-year-old recently admitted that he wants to play a role in the first-team or be sent out on loan this season.
“I hope I can make my mark on the first team and leave a good impression,” he said ahead of pre-season (via BBC Sport). “Then, for the season in general, I think I need to be playing in a professional environment because I think I have played enough youth football for a lifetime.”
Emenalo is technically proficient, he is progressive with his passing, he possesses the physical attributes required for senior football, his defensive positioning is excellent and he is regarded as one of Chelsea’s biggest academy prospects.
The teenager played the most minutes of any Chelsea player during behind-closed-doors friendly matches versus Crawley Town and Bromley before their trip to Australia, while he then started at left-back in the Blues’ first official pre-season match against Western Sydney Wanderers on Tuesday.
The England U19 international is far from the finished article, but with Chavarria now 28 years old and set to cost €50m, a far more shrewd decision could be to reward Emenalo with a promotion to the senior team ahead of next season.
With older heads such as Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck set to arrive at Stamford Bridge shortly, the risk of promoting a youngster like Emenalo has been minimised to an extent, and trusting the Englishman could have a far greater upside than splashing the cash on Chavarria, who remains unproven outside of La Liga.
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