Chelsea readying club-record bid to seal best signing since Palmer

Liam Rosenior will be aiming to avoid an FA Cup upset as he enters the Chelsea dug-out for the first time.

His new side makes the short journey over to EFL opposition Charlton Athletic on Saturday, with the 41-year-old merely watching on last time out, as the West London outfit fell to a 2-1 defeat to Fulham in the Premier League.

Now, he gets the opportunity to leave his mark on his troops, with the January transfer window also opening up plenty of chances for Chelsea to back their new manager with incoming bodies to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea looking to complete club-record deal

Rosenior will hope he gets the same significant backing that was handed to Enzo Maresca, before he was given his marching orders, with Chelsea’s summer spending hitting the £255m mark.

Already this window, the Premier League giants have been tipped to make an £87m move for Paris St Germain attacker Bradley Barcola a reality, alongside further talk that Antonio Rudiger could possibly return to West London, to strengthen Rosenior’s defensive options.

Looking even further ahead into the summer, reports from Spain are also claiming that Chelsea are readying a bid for ex-Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez, even with the World Cup winner tied down to Atletico Madrid until 2030.

Indeed, the report states that Alvarez is a top priority for Rosenior and Co, with the Blues confident that the Argentine attacker would jump at the chance of moving back to England, away from settling at the LaLiga giants.

In terms of a figure, an eye-watering £130m offer is believed to be what has been put on the table to win his services, eclipsing the club-record £115m dished out on Moises Caicedo.

Why Alvarez could be the best signing since Palmer

If a deal is done in 2026, it could be the Blues’ best foray into the market since they landed Cole Palmer back in September of 2023.

After all, Chelsea have struggled in recent windows to bring in instantly impactful attackers, with the hope that Alvarez can instantly set the Premier League alight, to justify his earth-shuddering fee.

Palmer arriving through the door for £42.5m from the Etihad sticks out as an even better bargain when you consider the millions forked out on hit-and-miss Blues attackers, since the Manchester-born star’s entry onto the scene.

While both Estevao and Joao Pedro have had their moments, with a combined 18 goal contributions for the season, the worry will be that the £48.5m recklessly coughed up for Jamie Gittens will go down as a big waste of money, as he remains on just one strike in West London.

Palmer wouldn’t struggle to adapt to what was expected of him, on the flip side, as the confident number ten would go on to collect a ridiculous 67 goals and assists across his first two seasons wearing Chelsea blue.

This would even lead to Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher heralding the 23-year-old as the “best player in the Premier League” last year, while fellow pundit Jamie Redknapp has also lauded Palmer as a “world-class” performer.

Safe to say, Chelsea have hit the jackpot with Palmer, who has a respectable four goals next to his name this season, even when injuries have troubled him, as Rosenior now hunts down another Palmer-style buy in the audacious swoop of Alvarez.

Of course, landing a star of Palmer’s ilk won’t come cheap. But, it could prove to be a necessary splurge, and not another mindless endeavour, with the skilful 25-year-old touted as “one of the best forwards in the world” by his Rojiblancos’ manager in Diego Simeone.

His insane numbers for both Atletico and, when he was still on the books of Pep Guardiola’s men, back up Simeone’s dashing words, with a crazy 155 goal contributions falling into the “monster”‘s lap – as journalist Pablo Gonzalez has labelled his goalscoring prowess – across his last five campaigns.

Rosenior will pray, therefore, that he can come in and be as entertaining and devastating as Palmer has proven to be, with the Chelsea attack in need of a transformative makeover, as the aforementioned Pedro leads the top-flight goalscoring charts for the Blues, with a weak six strikes.

Chelsea would have to play the long game in order to win his services, but if it means they’re able to land a signing of the same magnitude as Palmer’s, it’s a wait worth persisting over.

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Chelsea in “regular” talks with agents over signing £87m PSG star for Rosenior

The west Londoners have held discussions with intermediaries.