What Chelsea can expect from £48m winger Gittens

Jamie Gittens scored eight goals in the Bundesliga last season

Chelsea's prolonged effort to sign Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund was finally rewarded on Saturday as they sealed the England Under-21 winger's arrival for an initial fee of £48.5m.

The 20-year-old Englishman had agreed a seven-year contract with Chelsea in June.

The arrival of Gittens is good news for Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, who has had on-loan Jadon Sancho return to Manchester United this summer and made no secret of the fact a transfer priority for him was to sign a winger.

The Italian has been keen to add competition for Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto and Tyrique George.

Gittens remained the club's first-choice target this transfer window despite the Blues exploring other potential moves after initial bids for him failed before the start of the Club World Cup.

The 20-year-old joins an already well-stocked attacking line-up including Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku, Marc Guiu - who generally play centrally - as well as wingers Neto, Madueke and George.

"It might feel as though Chelsea are almost doing deals just for the sake of it, but there is a specific plan," said BBC Sport football news reporter Nizaar Kinsella.

"Gittens will come in as a left winger and replace Jadon Sancho after his loan spell from Manchester United was not made permanent. It's also worth noting Mykhailo Mudryk remains provisionally suspended for a failed drugs test."

Gittens is another exciting youth prospect that Borussia Dortmund have nurtured into a star player.

Dortmund confirmed a deal had been agreed with Chelsea on Thursday and he becomes the latest signing for the Blues with strong Manchester City links - joining the likes of Delap, Palmer and manager Maresca at Stamford Bridge.

"He can become the next [Jadon] Sancho, Erling Haaland or [Jude] Bellingham," former Dortmund striker Karl-Heinz Riedle said in November.

But will Gittens live up to those expectations and where will he fit in at Stamford Bridge?

'Gittens has been a long-term target for Chelsea'

It is not Gittens' first spell at Chelsea.

He spent a brief period on the books at the Blues' academy before turning them down to continue his development at his hometown club Reading.

After a two-year stint in Manchester City's youth set-up Gittens made the move to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, making his senior debut two years later.

He caught the attention of several clubs after a breakthrough 2024-25 season in which he scored eight goals in 32 Bundesliga appearances.

"He has no fear. For me, he is one of the best players one-against-one I have ever seen, to be honest. He will be a really good player," said Dortmund winger Karim Adeyemi.

Despite a strong start to last season, Gittens fell out of favour at Dortmund after the arrival of new manager Niko Kovac in February.

"Gittens has been a long-term target for Chelsea. They were looking at him in January, but that wasn't seen as viable," Kinsella added.

But the move became possible once it became apparent the winger did not fit into Kovac's preferred 3-5-2 formation.

Where Gittens will play at Chelsea

Gittens has not played a full 90 minutes with Borussia Dortmund since January

A rapid, right-footed left winger, Gittens' arrival fills the void left by Sancho's departure after Chelsea opted not to sign him on a permanent basis.

Speaking earlier in the summer, Maresca said: "Jadon is not with us so for sure that is a position we need to do something.

"We have Noni, Pedro and Ty only as the proper wingers so something for sure is going to happen. When the transfer window is open, for sure, we can do something."

He also fits the recruitment profile set by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart - a young and adaptable winger on a long-term contract, with a potentially high resale value.

"They are looking to get more than one option in every position as the squad will need to be stronger because of the Champions League pressures," Kinsella added.

"The squad will be quite well balanced now. The question is will Gittens and Delap hit the round running? They are still young players, so there are question marks."

Palmer, Romeo Lavia and summer signing from Ipswich Delap were all part of City's Under-21s when Maresca was in charge, while Tosin Adarabioyo is another to have come through that academy.

Chelsea boss Maresca is also an admirer of Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers, who failed to break through at City, while the club tried to sign City full-back Nico O'Reilly in January.

"Gittens is a young English player with that Manchester City link again, so he can play that style of football," Kinsella said.

"He also has a relationship with some of the recruiters, there are a lot of ex-Manchester City staff who know him and have had success with signing former City players."

How can Chelsea afford to keep spending?

Chelsea have already assembled a big squad, with a value heading north of £1.4bn.

Delap and Brighton forward Pedro have already signed during this close season, while midfielders Kendry Paez and Essugo, winger Estevao Willian, goalkeeper Mike Penders and defender Sarr complete their moves this summer.

By buying younger players on lower wages and spreading the payments over long-term contracts, Chelsea's strategy is to unearth new stars and sell on unwanted talent for a profit.

But further additions may be determined by the Premier League's response to the sale of their women's team to parent company BlueCo for £198.7m - a process that put the wider business into profit.

"If this is accepted by the Premier League, then Chelsea would have significant spending flexibility and another £200m is a possibility," football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport earlier this month.

"If it is excluded, then things will be far more challenging and they may have to sell before buying."

Chelsea's finances have been bolstered by qualifying for next season's Champions League, while they are set to receive more than £50m for taking part in the expanded Club World Cup.

However, their ability to register new players for European competition next season may be affected by Uefa's financial rules, which are different from the Premier League's PSR rules.

The club were fined 31m euros (£26.7m) on Friday for breaching Uefa's spending rules and could be prevented from registering new players for Uefa competitions unless they have a positive transfer balance by the end of the summer transfer window.