The genius Chelsea swap transfer deal that could see Blues snatch dynamite wonderkid

Chelsea have quite a few problems to clear up this summer, many of them financial in nature. As they work to finally build a coherent squad which meets Enzo Maresca’s needs and to jettison unwanted players, they’re going to have to work hard to avoid falling afoul of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules – and Jadon Sancho is one of many in the current squad whose situation provides a bit of a headache.

Although only on loan at Chelsea, the club are obligated to either buy him from Manchester United for £25m this summer – or to pay £5m to leave him behind at OId Trafford. For a club which has been guilty of overspending repeatedly in recent years and which has already been forced to sell Conor Gallagher to keep the balance sheet in the black last summer, it’s an issue they could do without.

Fortunately, Chelsea may have a solution – at least, according to a story from TeamTalk, who allege that Chelsea could pay to keep Sancho on the books and then move him straight back on to Borussia Dortmund as leverage in a swap deal for English rising star Jamie Gittens. But is Gittens ready for the Premier League, and is such a deal really feasible?

Why Chelsea could sign Jadon Sancho permanently – so they can sell him

It’s fair to say that Sancho’s stint at Chelsea hasn’t gone much better for him than his time at Manchester United did – after some flashes of promise early in the season, Sancho has fallen down the pecking order and has scored just three goals in 18 league starts.

A lot of the data behind Sancho’s performances has actually been rather decent, and there is little reason to doubt the quality of his approach play, technique or his ability to beat defenders and create space - but his output in the final third has been disappointing, and he has now been largely unsuccessful operating as an inside forward at two Premier League clubs.

Sancho rose to prominence at Dortmund operating in a deeper role which allowed him more freedom to dribble into central areas, but that’s a role that doesn’t exist in Maresca’s system. Between an awkward scheme fit and the sense that the 25-year-old’s confidence is fading again, it doesn’t seem too sensible to sign him permanently, at least on the face of it.

But if Chelsea find themselves in a position where they can sign and sell Sancho, then it may be beneficial for them. That’s because they can potentially amortise the outgoing payments to Manchester United while registering all of the money they were to earn from selling him as immediate profit – in essence, spreading the cost of the deals such that it freed up more spending power this summer.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that Dortmund would accept £25m as a fair value for Sancho given the downward trend of his career in recent years, so over the long term it may be a loss leader – but if they freed up spending space for this summer, in the middle of a crucial rebuild, a loss of a few million over the course of several seasons may be deemed acceptable, especially if they got a talented player into the bargain.

Gittens, like Sancho a few years ago, is making waves as a young winger at Dortmund and seems primed for a move to his home country in the coming months. Crucially, however, he is a much more natural wide forward than Sancho and should fit Maresca’s tactics rather more comfortably, so ‘swapping’ Sancho and Gittens makes a certain amount of sense.

According to TeamTalk’s report, Dortmund value Gittens (the ‘Bynoe’ in his formerly double-barrelled name was dropped on the advice of his father) at £35m, which Chelsea view as fair value. From a PSR perspective, signing Sancho with spread payments, selling him and putting the cash on the ledger in one go, and then signing Gittens with more amortised payments may lose money over time, but it could actually increase the amount they could spend this summer if done correctly.

In short, the whole idea is less bizarre than it may seem at first. Of course, there are significant complications – Sancho would have to agree a contract with Chelsea and signing-on fees would go on the balance sheet immediately, and the player would have to be on board with the entire scheme, and just as importantly Gittens would have to rebuff interest from other sides. It’s a lot of work to free up some short-term spending power, with a high chance of it all unravelling. But would it be worth it?

Jamie Gittens has much to learn – but the natural talent to go far

While Gittens broke into the Dortmund first team back in the 2022/23 season, it’s this year that the 20-year-old has really thrust himself into the broader public consciousness, scoring 12 goals in 45 games in all competitions.

Watching highlight reels of the youngster’s play makes his strengths immediately and abundantly clear. Fast at covering ground and even faster with his feet, Gittens can tear through defenders on the run with a flurry of step-overs and slaloming changes of direction, often beating multiple players in one go as he surges towards the goal.

A combination of two strong feet (Gittens is naturally right-footed but more than capable of delivering a cross with his left) means that he can send defenders either way before either cutting back or attacking the byline, but it’s the former that he prefers – and when combined with a fearless approach to finishing, he’s done to so to good effect all season.

Where Sancho really had to cut inside and have space to run into the be truly effective (a fact that neither Manchester United nor Chelsea really exploited), Gittens can operate wider and in narrower spaces, which means he should suit a more aggressive role as a wide forward, which is what Maresca wants from his wingers.

Gittens does still have plenty of development ahead of him, of course, and his decision making needs to improve. A player who is determined to use his preternatural dribbling skills at every opportunity, he will almost always look to beat his man even when better options are available, and seldom passes or looks for a Plan B.

That means that he can frustrate his own fans as often as he frightens defenders, and his capacity to learn how to read his own team’s attacks as they unfold in front of him will be crucial in determining whether he becomes a world-class winger or something of a one-trick pony. He needs to learn when to give and go, when to pass or set up one-twos, and when to hold off on his mazy dribbles for the benefit of the team. Right now, he tends to stick to his default setting of getting the ball down and haring for the box – not that one can blame him, given how good he is at getting there.

Gittens is, ultimately, a great scheme fit for Chelsea with the raw talent to become a special player at the highest level, but thoughtful coaching and patience will be necessary to developing him – and patience is something that Chelsea have seldom demonstrated with their younger players.

If they do indeed try to sign Gittens this summer – whether as part of a convoluted ‘swap’ deal with Sancho or otherwise – then Chelsea will need to give him time to learn his craft. Train him and use him in the right way, however, and they could have an exceptional player on their hands. They won’t be the only team thinking of making that gamble, however, and Gittens may have plenty of options in front of him this summer.