Chelsea face heavy competition in bid to sign chief offensive target this summer

Chelsea face stern competition for Maximilian Beier

Chelsea are eyeing offensive reinforcements this summer and have been linked with the signing of Hoffenheim striker Maximilian Beier. He had a breakthrough season in the Bundesliga in 2023/24 as he scored 16 goals.

Beier’s form was rewarded with a place in Germany’s Euro 2024 squad although he played roughly 25 minutes only at the tournament. Nonetheless, there is a huge market for his services this summer with Sport Bild reporting that Chelsea are in for some heavy competition if they want to acquire the forward.

Juventus are among those closely monitoring Beier, while four other Premier League clubs – Aston Villa, Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester United – also keeping tabs on his progress at Hoffenheim.

The 21-year-old’s release clause worth €32.5 million expired at the end of June. It will re-activate next summer at €30 million. Any party wishing to sign the player when the clause is dormant will need to enter into negotiations with Hoffenheim.

As far as the ongoing transfer window goes, Juve can probably be discounted from the race as they have already spent €90 million on numerous new signings without really making any noteworthy sales. Even by potentially selling Federico Chiesa, they would need to show an injection of funds in their accounting due to a delicate financial situation.

Manchester United’s interest in Beier may also end following Joshua Zirkzee’s arrival from Bologna. However, Liverpool, alongside Aston Villa and Brighton will prove to be tough competitors for the German.

Aston Villa and Liverpool could hold the advantage over Chelsea in their bid to sign Beier as they are participating in the Champions League.

Hoffenheim will leverage interest from a host of clubs to receive a higher transfer fee, which could price the west Londoners out of the equation as any more spending without selling could see them come under the Financial Fair Play radar.

As such, Beier has enjoyed only one impressive campaign and it could be worth waiting until next summer before Chelsea decide to gamble on another young forward’s signing. That said, the player will also be available for €30 million in June.

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Enzo Maresca has a number of attacking options at his disposal, which might mean that Chelsea’s pursuit of an attacker is not a high priority. Thus, they can afford to spend more time to scout for alternatives or wait until next year if they are intent on signing Beier instead of entering a bidding war this time around.