After gazumping Brighton to the signing of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall earlier in the transfer window, Chelsea are now considering signing one of the Seagulls' best players.
According to transfer reporter Ben Jacobs, the Blues "admire" Brighton left winger Kaoru Mitoma.
Given that seemingly three quarters of the Stamford Bridge front office worked at Brighton before joining Chelsea, this is not surprising. However, it would be a slightly outside-the-box signing for the Blues given the other players they have been linked with.
As Jacobs explained, Chelsea are looking at a number of young left-sided attackers. Leeds United's Crysencio Summerville, who has also been linked to Brighton, is one of Chelsea's top transfer targets. 19-year-old Club Brugge winger Antonio Nusa and breakout Ukraine star Georgiy Sudakov are also on Chelsea's radar.
Out of those options, Mitoma is by far the best player. At his best, he is one of the most dangerous attackers in the Premier League. This is why he would also be the most expensive option for the Blues.
Chelsea know first-hand how much Brighton demand for their best players. Since the 2022 summer transfer window, Chelsea's new owners Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly have paid over PS200m in transfer fees to Brighton.
Last summer they spent PS115 million, a British transfer record fee, on Moises Caicedo. Mitoma won't cost that much, but he won't be cheap.
At 27 years old, Mitoma is hitting his peak. He just signed a new contract to keep him at Brighton until 2027. Mitoma had a down season last year, but that won't stop Tony Bloom and Brighton's front office from asking Chelsea to spend at least PS60-70 million for him.
Summerville, Nusa, and Sudakov are all under 23 years old and could be considerably cheaper. If Chelsea are really debating about signing one of those three or Mitoma, the first thing they need to do is decide what kind of player they want on their team.
Do they want a proven Premier League player who instantly makes them better or do they want to invest in yet another unproven youngster? If they want the former, Chelsea won't find many better options than Mitoma.
