The winger has been regular under Enzo Maresca, and has even featured consistently at the Club World Cup this summer. But despite that, rumours about a departure have been consistent for more than a year now, and it seems we’ve now got a big which matches our asking price.
So are the Blues getting a good deal in all this?
Jamie Gittens holding up his Chelsea shirt. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
He is the obvious Madueke replacement, and the timing of the two deals is pretty instructive.
It’s not quite as simple as that given there are other options in the mix, but there is no doubt that to some degree it’s a one in, one out deal.
So would this £50m fee represent good value for Chelsea? Fans online are amazingly split over the sale and the fee.
Some will argue that after developing Madueke for 2.5 years and starting to see results, we should be sticking with him to get the payoff. There’s certainly a sense that he’s close to a big breakthrough in terms of picking up goals and assists.
Others will other that those 2.5 years have been plenty of time to figure out that the England international is never going to be a top class player, and that we should take the chance to swap him out for Gittens (who has a higher ceiling) while we can.
Only time will tell who is right.
