Borussia Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl has confirmed that talks with Chelsea will continue over a possible Jamie Gittens transfer despite rebuffing two offers for the winger.
Chelsea have reportedly had bids of €35 million (£29.6m, $40m) and €50m (€42.3m, $57.5m) rejected by Dortmund for the 20-year-old, who has three years left on his contract.
The German giants reportedly value the England Under-21 international at around €65m (£55m, $75m), so it remains to be seen if the Blues will meet their asking price.
Now, Kehl has admitted that the two teams could not find common ground over a transfer fee but that does not necessarily mean that a deal is dead and buried.
He told Tage Spiegel: “We spoke on the phone, in the end we did not agree, because we have different ideas about the current value of the player. Jamie definitely makes our team better. We are glad that he is there. We are in a good exchange and see how things are shaping in the future.
“Of course, at some point, if you take a player with it, you also have to sell. I assume that his market value will not fall. We will see to what extent we can keep it until the end of the tournament. There will be talks again.”
TEAMtalk previously revealed that Gittens was one of a trio of signings they hoped to pull off before the Club World Cup but none of them have come to fruition so far.
And when the transfer window opens again on June 16, before closing on September 1, they could face competition from Arsenal, Tottenham, and more.
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Chelsea will have to wait for Gittens
While Kehl has not slammed the door shut on a possible Chelsea transfer, he did confirm that the former Manchester City academy product will play at this summer’s Club World Cup in the United States.
The Blues tried to get a deal done before the first summer transfer window (June 1-10) closed but now a pursuit may not be successful for weeks or even months.
He said, via BBC Sport: “There was contact with Chelsea FC, who got in touch again yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon. We spoke again on the phone and exchanged expectations and different ideas.
“In the end, we didn’t come to an agreement because we have different ideas about the player’s current value. But the talks were very, very respectful. We have been in very good dialogue with Chelsea for many years.
“We are happy Jamie will now be part of our team at the Club World Cup and are delighted he is staying. I’m not responsible for the late offer – but, of course, I still have to deal with it and that’s what we’ve done.
“We looked into it very seriously, but in the end we also made a decision for ourselves. It’s still absolutely OK that Chelsea made this attempt. And, once again, we are in good dialogue. Let’s see how things develop in the future.”
If Gittens did move to Stamford Bridge, it is expected the youngster could join on a seven-year deal. But this transfer is far from done.
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