Chelsea abandoned Sancho: 25 million buyout was rejected, Gittens became a new target

Tuqiu.com, May 29th, The Guardian disclosed the news of Chelsea's recruitment this summer. The Blues officially gave up buying out the loan winger Sancho and turned their attention to Dortmund star Gittens, aiming to find more potential answers for Maresca's "width width system", reflecting the "rejuvenating + high cost-effective" transfer strategy adjustment in the Burleigh era.

Sancho's Blue Bridge Tour can be called "open high and end low". Although he contributed 3 goals and 5 assists in the early stage of loan (11 starts in the Premier League), his inefficient performance of "12.3 goals averaging per game" (20% of the Premier League's penalty at the same position), and injury problems (absent from 8 key games), made the Chelsea management discouraged the "25 million pound buyout". Although Maresca affirmed his "technical creativity", the internal assessment believes that "at the age of 25, he has not shown continuous stability and does not meet the team's dual requirements of 'important combat power + growth space'." If the loan is terminated, Chelsea will have to pay a penalty of 5 million pounds, which is regarded as "paying for trial and error".

Alternatives lock on 20-year-old Dortmund winger Gittens. The England U21 international made 28 appearances in the Bundesliga this season, contributing 8 goals and 7 assists, especially in the Champions League against Paris. His "cut in the right + shot with left foot" characteristics (75% of the goals came from outside the penalty area) are highly consistent with the "wing-blaster" requested by Maresca. Dortmund valued it at about €40 million (with a 20% second transfer share), which is lower than Sancho’s buyout price and has a higher potential ceiling – the scout report said its “template is early Salah.”

Potential competition comes from Arsenal and Real Madrid's pursuit of Nico Williams. The Bilbao winger has 13 goals and 9 assists in La Liga this season, with a liquidated damages of up to 100 million euros. Although Chelsea "paid closely", it may be difficult to match the offer. This strategy of "avoiding its edge and turning to secondary goals" is exactly the same as the Blues' winter window's operation to introduce David Washington (20 million euros), highlighting the pragmatic choice under the financial fair policy.

For Sancho, returning to Manchester United means that he must compete with Garnacho and Anthony to play time, and Tenhager's "slimming plan" may push him into the transfer market (Fulham and West Ham are interested). Chelsea's "giving up" sends a clear signal: in the Burleigh era, "fame" gave way to "data matching", and any signing needs to pass quantitative indicator assessments such as "expected goal value (xG)" and "pressure intensity".

Stanford Bridge's scout team may be making its "key pass hotspot map" when Gittens practices cutting in the Dortmund training ground. Chelsea's wing revolution may be shifting from "Sancho's trial and error" to "Gittens' gambling" - and this time, they hope to bet on the next "Mr. billion" rather than another "passer-leasing passerby".