Chelsea have already secured first summer transfer deal with £70m move agreed

Chelsea are already in a strong position for next summer's transfer window with the Blues doing some business back in September to get the club on the front foot

Emanuel Emegha is continuing to shine for Strasbourg as Chelsea monitor his progress ahead of his move to Stamford Bridge in 2026.

The Blues agreed a deal back in September for Emegha to come in next summer from sister club Strasbourg. Chelsea were aware of the mass interest in the Dutchman's signature and decided to act promptly, football.london understands, with the striker moving to west London in time for the 2026/27 season.

Emegha's form for Strasbourg has been so good that the striker earned his first call-up to the Netherlands senior squad earlier in the week. With Wout Weghorst's fitness in question, Emegha will provide another option for Ronald Koeman ahead of Holland's World Cup qualifiers against Poland and Lithuania.

The 22-year-old forward, unfortunately, has been struggling with a niggling hamstring injury in the early exchanges of the 2025/26 season but when he has been on the pitch, he has been on fire. Emegha scored both of Strasbourg's goals in a 2-0 win over Lille on Sunday in Ligue 1 - marking just his third start in the French top-flight this season.

In that time, the Netherlands international has bagged four goals and provided two assists - which equates to two direct goal contributions per start in the league. There is no wonder there is such excitement from Chelsea supporters for Emegha to join next summer and add to the fire power already at Enzo Maresca's disposal.

Liam Delap and Joao Pedro are Chelsea's go-to No.9 options at the moment, with the likes of Marc Guiu and Tyrique George also available for Maresca, though the latter two could leave on loan and permanent deals, respectively, between now and the summer window. Chelsea's plan in the summer was to go into the new season with two out-and-out striker options and one versatile forward who can play as the sole No.9, but also in various other positions across the front line as well.

Nicolas Jackson would have been the other orthodox No.9 alongside Delap, but the plan with the Senegalese forward changed back in August. Jackson informed Chelsea he wanted to explore his options away from the club following the arrivals of Delap and Joao Pedro and the Blues did not stand in his way.

The 24-year-old striker, after a bizarre transfer saga, eventually ended up joining Bayern Munich on a season-long loan deal with an obligation to buy. Chelsea and Bayern agreed on a package worth more than £70million for Jackson, with the German champions paying a £14.2million loan fee and £56.2million as an obligation if certain conditions - that are classified - are met.

If said conditions are not met, then Bayern do not have to buy Jackson once his loan contract concludes. However, the former Villarreal striker is said to have no interest in returning to Stamford Bridge next season regardless.

Either way, in Emegha, Chelsea already have their Jackson replacement secured. Emegha himself seems very much excited for next summer's switch, though his focus remains on helping Strasbourg out this season and finishing what he helped start at Stade de la Meinau.

He said: "It's the best for my career: I want to go as high as possible, play in the Champions League, the World Cup. I could have signed for clubs participating in the Champions League this summer, but the overall project of Strasbourg and Chelsea appealed to me. Now, I want to guide Strasbourg in Europe.

"With this group, we started something great and I wanted to see it through to the end. I'm going to give everything for the club this season. I also spoke to the coach and his opinion was important to me."