Mike Maignan and Jamie Gittens transfer shift costs Chelsea £44m as Enzo Maresca reality clear

Chelsea have decided against caving into transfer demands. Having pushed heavily for a new goalkeeper and left winger ahead of the Club World Cup, they will have to settle for having neither when the competition starts on Sunday morning.

At points, it looked like they might be adding both Mike Maignan and Jamie Gittens to Liam Delap as summer arrivals, but instead, neither will be in America with Enzo Maresca's squad. At least not for the group stage.

In a 10-day mini transfer window blitz, Chelsea have managed to create one genuine saga as well as a deal that could drag on. It seems to have all the ingredients of what we have come to expect from Chelsea in the market.

When an established name appeared in front of them, they chose not to seize it with both hands but rather to maintain distance. It is both in keeping with Modern Chelsea and also slightly surprising.

From one side, Chelsea were actually serious about signing a 29-year-old (who turns 30 in four weeks). That would have made Maignan the oldest player purchased by the Clearlake Capital-Todd Boehly ownership since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on deadline day in 2022.

That is almost three years ago and things have changed significantly in the intervening period. Chelsea have not paid money to buy any outfield player over the age of 24 throughout Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart's leadership as sporting directors. The oldest goalkeeper signed has been Robert Sanchez, 25 at the time, and he had no history of elite performance.

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Maignan, then, represented a genuine step away from the norm. He has an excellent background and top-level experience having won Ligue 1 and Serie A as first choice. He has been to a major tournament with France as the country's No.1 and has played in the Champions League. He is an established name and has reached a peak higher than most in the Chelsea squad.

There is an argument that he might actually have passed that peak and be on the way down, but there is more on that to come. This cannot be said of any of the other Winstanley-Stewart signings. Tosin Adarabioyo is the closest to that after coming in at 26 on a free from Fulham.

Across more than 40 players, Maignan would have stood alone in terms of his age and standing within the game. So this deal was always extremely un-Chelsea. It is why so many were excited by the mere prospect.

Chelsea have signalled that they are not wedded to the youth recruitment drive in full and that when a chance comes around to deviate, they will explore it. With a seat at the top table of European football next season, the desire and need for players in this bracket is enhanced.

Maybe, then, Chelsea really are broadening their horizons. That is just one reason there has been such an angry response to the news that the move has fallen through ahead of the Club World Cup.

Because is also very much like Chelsea to not get this over the line. football.london understands that, one week on from making a real play to bring Maignan in, there is no chance he arrives before the June 10 deadline.

This is not to say that a deal might not yet be completed later on in the window, but Maignan will not travel out to America with Maresca and his squad as was imagined when news broke of interest last week. At that stage things were advancing nicely with a clear deadline in mind. There is a valuation gap between the two teams which could not be bridged here.

Some will say that missing out on Maignan by not paying £25million is a scandal. There is thought to be around £10million between the teams, which is not a huge fee in the grand scheme of things but it is also not nothing.

Given the money Chelsea have spent on goalkeepers only to be searching for another one, there is logic to this view. Chelsea's current four (Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen, Djordje Petrovic, and teenage talent Mike Penders) cost £78million combined.

None of them were immediately ready to positively impact the team at the right standard, where Maignan would be an upgrade of know-how and passing, if nothing else. Why then, have Chelsea not paid the cash to get this done?

Well, numerous wrongs (because there have been many mistakes) do not make a right. It can be wrong that Chelsea sanctioned £30million on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, £45million for Joao Felix, £97million on Axel Disasi and Mykhailo Mudryk, plus the other millions on teenagers yet to make an impact, but also be wrong to bow down to Milan's asking price for Maignan.

If Chelsea do not view Maignan as being worth the money (which there is a credible, if unpopular argument that he does not justify), then it does not become right to do so because they have previously wasted money elsewhere. Sure, it looks silly, unplanned, and poorly executed, but at some stage Chelsea have to draw the line.

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The same goes for Gittens. It is certainly frustrating to put in so much work to get to this point only to not have him available for the Club World Cup, but when there is upwards of £20million (at least) difference in valuation, what is the other choice?

Should Chelsea pay an inflated £50million for Gittens - which still might be conservative of Borussia Dortmund's asking price given some reports suggest they want towards £54million for the 20-year-old - just to get him in for an extra week of training and three games against opposition they are superior to in the group stage? Or is it wise to hold off and try to reduce the price?

The difference here is that Maignan, again, is a well-known figure in European football. Gittens is still raw and mostly potential, whereas Maignan can be seen as (literally) a safer pair of hands.

Don't haggle for £10million when the price of Maignan is still less than Sanchez, but certainly do when it comes to Gittens. That is another understandable view. Before a second bid of £42million was rejected for Gittens, there was a potential double deal of £44million between them in the conversation (split £29million for Gittens and £15million for Maignan) possible here, or it could rise to £80million (£50million and £30million, if the sellers get their way)

The shift in dynamic for Chelsea can still be seen as positive, though. Too often in recent years they have been drawn to simply paying a big fee. Think of how they ended up getting to £115million in total for Moises Caicedo, or £105.6million for Enzo Fernandez.

Chelsea went to £62million for Mudryk and £30million for Dewsbury-Hall. Taking the extra time, when there is still three months of this window left, with Maignan and Gittens might not be the end of the world, even if it is immensely frustrating.

Perhaps the biggest problem is how publicly this has all played out. As soon as the interest emerged, there has been a game of briefs and counter briefs between the clubs (both Milan and Dortmund). There is a war to control the narrative and to explain actions.

None of this is helpful, only adding to the noise of the transfer market. When Chelsea go from not looking for a goalkeeper to approaching Maignan, to then being happy with their options, it reflects poorly and only serves to anger supporters.

There is already a dissatisfaction at the way Chelsea have been operating in the transfer market, so having it transpire that they fundamentally did not view Maignan (a respected and renowned goalkeeper) worthy of paying an extra £10million, is not going to improve matters. The decision to hold off does have merit, though.

Chelsea have a long way to go this summer and although they wanted business to be completed early for the Club World Cup, the events of the past few days do not mean that the window is a failure. What it does represent is the scale of the challenge for Winstanley and Stewart to win over the fanbase.

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