Borussia Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl is confident Jamie Gittens will remain “professional” as he continues to be linked with Chelsea.
Chelsea pushed to sign the winger before the start of the Club World Cup and had a £42million bid rejected by the Bundesliga club. With the second summer transfer window set to open in the next few days, the London club remain determined to sign Gittens, having agreed personal terms with the 20-year-old.
However, Dortmund want Gittens’ focus for now on the Club World Cup and he came off the bench against Fluminense in their opening match of the tournament.
Jamie Gittens of Borussia Dortmund wants the move to Chelsea. (Photo by GSI/Icon Sport via Getty Images)
“We’ve had one or two conversations with Jamie in the last few days,” Kehl said of Gittens.
“He’s professional enough to know he has to perform. That’s also in his nature. Jamie will still be very important for us in this tournament. We’ll see what happens after that.
“But I don’t have a negative opinion of him.”
Enzo Maresca wants to sign a right-footed winger to play on the left, after the decision was made to not make Jadon Sancho’s move a permanent one.
Sancho spent last season on loan at Stamford Bridge but Chelsea paid a £5m fee to get out of their obligation to sign him from Manchester United.
If Chelsea fails to agree a fee with Dortmund, the Blues are considering other versatile forward options, with Brighton star Joao Pedro on the shortlist and there is talk of a hijack of Newcastle’s £60m move for the Brazilian.
West Ham United winger Mohammed Kudus is also on the shortlist. The Ghanaian international has a release clause of £85m, which is active for the first ten days of July.
