Neto to Chelsea: Arsenal, Man City target one of six Premier League transfers hijacked by Boehly

Just when you think your team is set to land a new signing, Chelsea swoop in and steal them from under your nose. And sometimes they don’t even need a player for that position!

There is a running ‘joke’ that Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly’s transfer shortlist derives from social media rumours and we are totally on board with this being their legitimate philosophy in the market. Banter or not, they definitely have Fabrizio Romano‘s notifications turned on.

Following the Neto ‘Here we go!’, we have looked at six examples of them buying a player, seemingly because Premier League rivals are interested.

Six times shameless Chelsea hijacked a Premier League rival’s transfer
Pedro Neto (Hijacked from Arsenal, Man City, Newcastle and Tottenham)

Chelsea will reportedly sign Wolves winger Pedro Neto, which has come slightly out of the blue. There has been a tonne of Premier League interest in the Portuguese international with Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham reluctant to bite the bullet due to his injury record. Transfer-happy Chelsea have decided it’s worth the risk and will apparently be paying Gary O’Neil’s side £54million for Neto’s services.

With no disrespect to Wolves intended, we must admit it will be fun to see Neto plying his trade for a bigger club, especially considering so many have been sniffing around in recent years.

The 24-year-old can play through the middle or on either wing and is very dangerous on his day. Chelsea will be hoping to see his day more frequently than Wolves did, because those injuries have been a real pain. Literally.

Where does Neto fit in at Chelsea? Cole Palmer has the right nailed down unless Enzo Maresca plans to make him a false-nine/centre-forward or a No. 10. The left is there for the taking and feels like the natural choice with Mykhaylo Mudryk and Raheem Sterling failing to shine. Surely he will play there, even if he was predominantly a right-winger for Wolves. Let’s wait and see, I guess.

Tosin Adarabioyo (Hijacked from Newcastle)

Poor Newcastle were closing in on the signing of a player in a position in which they desperately need reinforcements before bloody Chelsea swooped in and agreed a deal to sign them. The Magpies were recently left peeved by Eghbali and Boehly’s transfer philosophy, missing out on Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer.

They have suffered fitness problems in that position but Chelsea have copious central defenders already at their disposal. Wesley Fofana will be fit for the start of next season and Trevoh Chalobah is arguably better than Tosin. We completely understand the financial logic of signing Tosin for nothing and selling Chalobah for pure profit, but that doesn’t mean it can’t p*ss us off. Because it has.

Newcastle should absolutely go in for Chalobah if they fail to land Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace. And if they do get Guehi, then Palace should go for Chalobah.

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Mykhaylo Mudryk (Hijacked from Arsenal)

Mykhaylo Mudryk to Arsenal was the story of the 2022 January transfer window; those rumours fed our families for months before Chelsea decided they wanted a piece.

The Gunners have been very reluctant to pay over the odds for players since Mikel Arteta’s arrival in 2019 and with Mudryk they came nowhere near to meeting Shakhtar Donetsk’s asking price. Chelsea met it at the first attempt, such is their newfound stupidity and naivety ruthlessness.

Arsenal’s top transfer target had been taken away from them in the blink of an eye. But they got Leandro Trossard instead for a third of what Chelsea paid for Mudryk. They won.

Marc Cucurella (Hijacked from Man City)

Manchester City have tricked Manchester United into buying players before and looking back, they might have pulled the same stunt on Chelsea in Boehly’s first summer at Stamford Bridge.

How would Marc Cucurella have even fitted in this City team? Would he have fallen out of favour by January or been the difference between a treble and quadruple? Could he have been the clutch player against Nathan Jones’ side on that November evening? Maybe City would have won the Premier League more comfortably. He would have played left-back at Nottingham Forest, for a start.

Anyway, City’s reported interest in Cucurella was thwarted after Chelsea joined the race, spunking more than £60m on the Spaniard when they already had Ben Chilwell as their first-choice left-back/left-wing-back. Lewis Hall and Ian Maatsen – who proved he is good enough at Borussia Dortmund in the second half of 2023/24 and was recently signed by Aston Villa – were also right there.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but Cucurella has flopped at Chelsea and was the first of many rash signings Boehly nabbed from a Premier League rival. At least Euro 2024 showed he is actually a pretty good footballer.

📣 TO THE COMMENTS! Will Pedro Neto be a success at Chelsea? Join the debate here.

Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo (Hijacked from Liverpool)

It was Liverpool’s turn to be left stunned by Chelsea’s transfer window brashness last August when the Blues beat them to the signatures of both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. The former was also linked with Arsenal before they signed Declan Rice but Chelsea’s interest was long-standing and they were desperate for a midfield player of that calibre and profile.

However, Brighton and Liverpool agreed a fee and Caicedo easily could have moved to Anfield. He was adamant he was going to Chelsea and when they got their fingers out, the Blues made it happen, successfully hijacking the Reds to get someone they desperately needed.

Lavia, though? Not so much. Yes, he has great potential. Yes, he proved at Southampton that he can rock it with the big boys in Our League. But this deal felt like another case of Chelsea flexing their financial muscles at the expense of a rival, rather than vastly improving the squad.

At least young Lavia fits the profile that aligns with Boehly and Eghbali’s *genuine* transfer philosophy.

The Tyler Adams saga is worth a brief mention. Liverpool were also reportedly in for him before Chelsea agreed to sign him from Leeds United. When it became clear they could land Caicedo and Lavia, the Londoners uncharacteristically showed some restraint and backed out of a deal. Good on you, fellas.

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