Chelsea's Late Move for Fulham's Berge Ends in Failure as Deadline Day Midfield Search Falls Flat

Chelsea showed late interest in Fulham midfielder Sander Berge as they scrambled to bring in central midfield reinforcements before selling Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City, but ultimately came away from the summer transfer window empty-handed in that position.

The Blues had planned to sign a new midfielder in the closing days of the window to help cover Fernandez's exit, but the £125m sale went through without a replacement arriving.

Berge was among the options Chelsea explored late in the window, though they never made a formal offer for the Norway international, and Fulham made clear he wasn't for sale. Since joining from Burnley in 2023, the 28-year-old has become an important player for Fulham, making 78 appearances for the club.

With Berge unavailable, Chelsea turned their attention to Monaco's Lamine Camara and Roma's Manu Kone on deadline day. They believed they had agreed a £47m deal for Camara in the final hours of the window, but the move fell through just minutes before the deadline passed. Reports also linked Chelsea with a late approach for Everton midfielder James Garner, though Everton manager David Moyes has denied that any such approach was made.

The failed pursuit leaves Chelsea needing to prioritize a new central midfielder when the January transfer window opens, with Bournemouth's Alex Scott understood to be among their longer-term targets.

The gap in Chelsea's squad was clear to see in Sunday's defeat to Arsenal, where manager Xabi Alonso ended up using natural right-backs Reece James and Malo Gusto through the middle of the pitch. There is some relief on the injury front, however, with Moises Caicedo hopeful of returning from the injury that kept him out against Arsenal in time for Chelsea's home game against Hull on Saturday.