Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea proved the magnitude of their attacking might earlier this week with a thumping 8-0 win over Armenian side FC Noah in the Europa Conference League.
Attackers Joao Felix, Christopher Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk and Marc Guiu were all on the scoresheet in the win, while defenders Tosin Adarabioyo and Axel Disasi also got in on the act. The victory broke the previous Conference League record win by two goals, and took Chelsea’s goal total in the tournament to 16 in three games, with the Blues having previously beaten Gent 4-2 and Panathinaikos 4-1.
“Chelsea shouldn’t be in this competition, but this is where they are,” said former Chelsea star Joe Cole on TNT Sport after the match. “They are massive favourites to win it and they should be.”
Maresca wants more as he identifies top target
Despite Chelsea already possessing an enormous amount of attacking talent (they didn’t even need first-teamers Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke, Jadon Sancho, Pedro Neto, and Cole Palmer, who isn’t in Chelsea’s Conference League squad, for the win over Noah), Maresca still wants more.
According to Italian outlet Tuttojuve, the Chelsea head coach is now driving the Blues’ interest in Borussia Dortmund forward Karim Adeyemi, trying to pip Juventus to his signature.
Maresca admires the 22-year-old’s pace and balance, according to Tuttojuve, and sees him as a top target. Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool are also understood to be interested in Adeyemi, however, who is valued at €35 million (£29 million) and has three years left on his contract at the Signal Iduna Park.
Adeyemi brings a new element to Chelsea's attack
Adeyemi, a product of Red Bull Salzburg’s famed academy, joined Dortmund in the summer of 2022. A promising first campaign was followed by a disjointed second, but this term, under the guidance of new manager Nuri Sahin, Adeyemi has come into his own.
In eight games this season, the Germany international has registered five assists and scored five goals, including an impressive hat-trick against Celtic in the UEFA Champions League.
Karim Adeyemi Dortmund Stats
Season
Games
Goals
Assists
2022/23
32
9
6
2023/24
34
5
2
2024/25
8
5
5
The young forward, however, is currently injured with a torn muscle fiber, and has missed Dortmund’s last seven games in all competitions. He is expected to return to action after the international break later this month. Dortmund have lost four of those seven games in which Adeyemi has been absent, a run of form that has seen Sahin’s side knocked out of the German Cup and slip to fifth in the Bundesliga.
Recent back-to-back wins against RB Leipzig and Sturm Graz, however, have lifted spirits, and Sahin is hoping to make it three on the trot against Mainz at the weekend: “We will try to get those important points to start again after the international break from a better position.”
