Chelsea are chasing time, trophies—and defenders.
With Champions League qualification just a single win away, the club’s attention is already shifting to the summer, where Enzo Maresca’s rebuild begins in earnest.
Dean Huijsen was meant to be central to that vision. But he’s gone—to Real Madrid. So Chelsea adapt. They always have.
Now, according to Sky Sports, three names remain on their board.
Marc Guehi. Jarrad Branthwaite. Jorrel Hato.
Each man tells a different story. Branthwaite, battered in Everton blue, hardened in a relegation fight. Hato, the boy wonder of Ajax, all potential, little proof. And Guehi—Cobham’s own—who left Chelsea, grew into an England international, and now seems poised for a homecoming.
Guehi fits the puzzle best.
He knows the club. The league. The city. He wants to return. And Crystal Palace, aware his contract expires in 12 months, can’t afford to play hardball. In a market inflated by desperation, that’s rare leverage.
Branthwaite won’t come cheap. Everton, clinging to their brightest asset as they usher in a new stadium, will inflate the price.
Hato? Arsenal and Liverpool already stalk him. At 18, his ceiling is vast—but untested in England. Chelsea need someone now, not next.
The stakes are more than defensive. They’re existential. Chelsea can’t afford another misstep. The centre-back—where John Terry once bled blue—is the anchor. Guehi may not be flashy. But he is familiar. And he is ready.
The club knows it.
Soon, the rest will too.