Chelsea have reached an agreement in principle to sign Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens.
The two clubs have reached an agreement over a deal, with the fee yet to be confirmed. The deal is set to be completed pending a medical.
The Athletic reported on June 7 that Chelsea had submitted an official proposal with Dortmund to sign Gittens and that the Premier League club agreed a seven-year contract with the forward.
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However, Chelsea were not able to agree a deal with Dortmund before the transfer deadline ahead of the Club World Cup on June 10. Dortmund are also playing in the tournament in the United States with Gittens featuring as a substitute in the opening game against Fluminense.
Chelsea have held a long-term interest in Gittens, and he is keen on a move to Stamford Bridge, believing the move could give him the platform to push for a place in England’s squad for next year’s World Cup. His potential sale is seen as key to a summer rebuild at Dortmund after Niko Kovac’s side narrowly earned a fourth-placed finish and Champions League spot on the final day of the season.
Gittens recorded 12 goals and five assists in 48 matches during the 2024-25 campaign, a breakthrough season for the former Manchester City academy player which attracted interest from Chelsea and German champions Bayern Munich, as reported by The Athletic in January.
Gittens joined Dortmund in 2020 and has made 106 first-team appearances for the German club, where his contract runs through to 2028. The winger has made 25 England appearances in multiple brackets of the youth teams, but has yet to earn a senior cap.
The Athletic previously reported that Chelsea were to prioritise signing a striker and a right-footed winger in the summer transfer window.
Chelsea opted against making Jadon Sancho’s 2024-25 season-long loan deal a permanent move, having scored five goals in 41 appearances during his move from Manchester United.
The west London club acquired Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap on a six-year contract after activating his £30million ($40m) and have now moved to add Gittens, after opting against making Jadon Sancho’s 2024-25 season-long loan deal a permanent move.
In addition to agreeing a move for Gittens, Chelsea and Newcastle United are in competition to sign Brighton & Hove Albion forward Joao Pedro.
What could Chelsea be getting?
Analysis from Sebastian Stafford-Bloor in the The Radar – 2025 Club World Cup
Gittens left for Manchester City’s academy as a young teenager before joining Dortmund in 2020. Early bursts of progress were curtailed by terrible luck with injuries — so much so that Gittens had to wait until 2023 for his first, sustained breakthrough into the first team.
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He is a slashing winger, old-fashioned in a way. He is most dangerous one-on-one, with his wickedly quick feet and a dribbling style that allows him to go past his man on either side, and then shoot with tremendous power from a short backlift. His goals in 2024 were violent and artistic, and often decisive. No Bundesliga player attempted more take-ons across the campaign, with Gittens relishing the chance to drive into the box from the left flank (as illustrated below).
It made him the ‘unterschiedsspieler’ — difference-making player — and without him, Dortmund would have been in a desperate state.
Since the turn of the year, things have been less straightforward. In the middle of what was his first full season as a regular starter, he began to show signs of fatigue. Gittens is a high-energy, high-impact player, and Dortmund’s dependence upon him for attacking thrust dulled him.
Sporadic appearances under new coach Niko Kovac soon became a lack of confidence and with a summer transfer looking increasingly likely, his focus seemed to dwindle, too.
But these are distractions. Gittens remains an outstanding player in the making and should things break right he will have a fighting chance of making Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the 2026 World Cup.
A fabulous talent, albeit temporarily dormant.
What does the sale mean for Dortmund?
Analysis from Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
In the end, this has proven a good deal for Dortmund. Despite Gittens’ drop in form in the second half of last season, they have still managed to secure a big fee, at a time when they are looking to rebuild their squad and finance a new era.
For context, only four times since the start of the 2019 season have BVB sold a player for a fee larger than €50m. Jadon Sancho, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham were the first three, now Gittens is the fourth.
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Politically, it has its significance, too. This is the first major sale to occur on the watch of Lars Ricken, who became the CEO for football in May 2024. Ricken was actually head of the Dortmund academy when Gittens arrived from Manchester City in 2020, so — on a personal level — he has overseen the player’s growth from free transfer, to one of the bigger sales in the club’s recent history.
Much of last season was also coloured by discussion of Ricken’s dynamic with Sebastian Kehl, the sporting director, and their capacity to work in tandem. Both played their roles in this protracted negotiation with Chelsea, and have come out well from it, strengthening their respective positions and their partnership.
They are losing an excellent player and the hope had been that Gittens would stay longer than he has and grow into a true Bundesliga. That has not happened, but this will be some consolation.
(Lars Baron/Getty Images)
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