Chelsea Transfers: Does Jorginho-Douglas Costa swap deal make sense?

Frank Lampard-managed Chelsea are making big and bold moves in the transfer market these days. The Blues have already reportedly agreed a transfer ‘in principle’ with RB Leipzig star forward Timo Werner. 

Apart from the German, Chelsea have also been linked with a host of wingers in the past couple of months. 

Previously, Jadon Sancho was reported to be the club’s priority signing, although Borussia Dortmund have slapped a £120 million price tag on the Englishman, who has also been heavily linked with Manchester United.

This led to the Blues looking for alternatives and in recent weeks, players like Federico Bernardeschi, Federico Chiesa and most recently, Kai Havertz have all been linked with moving to Stamford Bridge. 

Earlier, it was reported that Bernardeschi, who is currently on the books of Juventus, would be made available by the Old Lady in a swap deal with Jorgingho, whom Maurizio Sarri is eager to reunite with. 

The pair worked together at Napoli, before the Italian tactician signed his protege for Chelsea when he was appointed the head coach at Stamford Bridge in 2018. 

While Sarri moved on to Juventus, ahead of this season, he has been eager to sign Jorginho again, but Frank Lampard is unwilling to entertain that idea. 

In order to tempt Chelsea into selling the pass-master, Juventus are willing to offer Brazilian winger Douglas Costa in-exchange for Jorginho. 

Chelsea’s search for wingers

The Premier League outfit have decided against renewing the contracts of veteran wingers Willian and Pedro, who will become free agents in a couple of months. 

While Willian has been linked with a host of European elites, including Paris Saint Germain and Tottenham, Pedro is reportedly interested in a move to AS Roma. 

Chelsea, meanwhile, have begun the work to replace the outgoing duo, as they have already secured the signing of Ajax ace Hakim Ziyech. Despite this, the Premier League club are willing to make one more addition to their attacking arsenal, in order to give competition to the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic. 

Maurizio Sarri pushing for a reunion with Jorginho

The Italian tactician hasn’t been impressed with Juventus’ midfield options, and as such, he’s eager to sign Jorginho once again. In order to sweeten the deal for Chelsea, the Old Lady have put as many as four players on the table. 

Miralem Pjanic was first offered by the Serie A giants in a like-for-like swap, but the Bosnian is interested in moving to Barcelona. Then, Federico Chiesa and Alex Sandro’s name was thrown into the fold, the latter would be an ideal signing if the Blues fail to secure Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell. 

Juventus themselves are keen to sign Chelsea outcast Emerson Palmieri, therefore, a swap including him and Alex Sandro would be better suited for both parties. 

As per reports, Sarri is now eager to exchange Douglas Costa with Jorginho, which would address the Premier League side’s need for wide players, given the Brazilian is a well-known entity in world football. 

Why Douglas Costa-Jorginho swap deal make sense?

Costa has been capped by Brazil 31 times, while he also racked up nearly 400 appearances at club level. While the 29-year-old won’t be a long-term option, he will certainly be an upgrade over the inexperienced Hudson-Odoi and Pulisic. 

Chelsea have slapped a £50 million price tag on Jorginho, and the club are already well-stocked in midfield, but Lampard is known to be fond of the Italian international. 

Juventus, meanwhile, value Douglas Costa between £42-47 million, which means little cash would be needed to make this deal work. 

Such a swap deal would address the pressing issues of both parties, although it remains to be seen if Lampard agrees to it. 

The verdict

It’s obvious that the Costa-Jorginho swap would work wonders for Juventus as it would secure a replacement for Miralem Pjanic, who could join Barcelona.

For Chelsea, on paper at least, it looks like a good deal. They would ideally prefer to wait for Kai Havertz, but with so many teams eager on the German, acquiring Costa on a near-free transfer certainly wouldn’t be a bad plan B, by any means.