Chelsea on alert as €32m star heads for exit after outburst

16 Oct 2026 10:02 BST
2 min read

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One of Chelsea’s long-term transfer targets may have taken a giant leap towards a move after an emotional outburst that could cause controversy at his current club.

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Chelsea’s broad transfer scope has seen the Premier League giants linked with a wide variety of players, particularly with the club having faced interest in a number of stars during the summer, including Pedro Neto.

Had Manchester City formalised their interest in Neto, one of Chelsea’s potential options to replace the winger was believed to be Juventus star Francisco Conceicao.

Conceicao has developed into a key player for Juventus since joining the club from Porto two years ago for €32 million but the 23-year-old reacted strongly to being substituted off in the 2-1 win over Celta in the Europa League on Thursday.

With the game tied in the 64th minute, Conceicao was withdrawn much to his fury, with the Portuguese youngster lashing out with punches to the substitutes bench and a heated exchange of words with the coaching staff before immediately heading to the dressing room.

However, both the forward and manager Luciano Spalletti played down the incident but tensions could be rising, with the forward still yet to complete a full 90 minutes this season.

Conceicao risks Spalletti wrath after Juventus outburst, with Chelsea circling

Conceicao is primarily a left-footed right winger, although he has often been used in a central role and his versatility is among the attributes that seemingly grabbed Chelsea’s attention in the summer.

© IMAGO – Francisco Conceicao has had a mixed time at Juventus so far under Luciano Spalletti.

The player is also represented by Jorge Mendes, who has close links to Chelsea, and the Blues will be alerted to any developing situation, although Conceicao denied any falling out over the incident.

“I didn’t argue with anyone,” Conceicao said after the match. “I left, gave a slight punch to the substitutes’ bench and didn’t argue with any member of staff. I didn’t speak to anyone, I went to the locker room, changed my shirt, went to the bathroom and came back.”

“We need to talk about real things, not this. We need to talk about the second half and the fact that we won.”

Spalletti also appeared relatively unfazed, although the Italian coach suggested Conceicao needed to improve his performances after also subbing the winger at half-time in the previous match against Cagliari.

“It’s better that he’s upset with himself, otherwise we can talk about it together. But I believe he’s angry about the performance he gave,” Spalletti said.

“He came off in the 70th minute and we played again in three days. If he behaved like that, despite my team telling me otherwise, he’ll have to explain what we should give him.”