Chelsea ready for imminent Xavi Simons transfer update with triple breakthrough

Football has funny ways of throwing perfect narrative collisions into the world. Think Wayne Rooney playing at Old Trafford against Chelsea in 2013 when he was pushing to join Jose Mourinho's team that summer.

There are numerous examples, and over this weekend, Alexander Isak's Newcastle United will face Liverpool without Alexander Isak himself. The transfer stand-off between the two clubs promises to add another layer of spice to an already intriguing matchup.

Chelsea themselves have had it on another occasion, when Fernando Torres' first game after leaving Anfield was to play Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. They will now have an eye on Germany on Friday night after another twist of fate by the footballing Gods.

Whilst Enzo Maresca is trying to get a win against West Ham at the London Stadium, recruitment chiefs may well be watching events at the Allianz Arena. At the same time as Chelsea's Premier League clash, the Xavi Simons-Christopher Nkunku derby will be going on.

In a blockbuster opening day of the Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich host RB Leipzig in the battle of two teams trying to extract the best possible deal out of Chelsea this window. Simons, who is one of the players to watch in the final week-and-a-bit before deadline day, is expected to play.

He was part of the Leipzig team that beat SV Saundhausen last weekend in the German Cup - both scoring and assisting - and has remained there in the build-up to the league beginning. As a key player for Ole Werner, he is almost certain to start.

Chelsea will hope that it's the last time he plays for Leipzig as they attempt to finally get a transfer over the line. The irony is that it relies on Nkunku and the intent of Bayern.

They are just one of the teams interested in buying Chelsea's French attacker. Leipzig, as it would happen, are another. Just what the price or structure of a deal would look like with either team is unclear.

Nkunku is a highly paid player on a contract unlike most of the rest of the Chelsea squad. He was signed before the turn to lower base, high incentive, extremely long deals. He is also 27 now and will be 28 by the end of November. Clubs are less likely to invest in this profile than ever before.

Nkunku is over two years removed from anything close to his best form, and it is his record at Leipzig doing the heavy lifting for any value. Very little he has done at Chelsea (which is already a limited sample size) has done much to justify the £52million outlay, let alone see it rise to £60million, as was the January demand.

There was no doubt, at the time, that Nkunku represented value for money, but it simply has not worked out due to injury and myriad factors including managerial changes and Cole Palmer becoming perhaps the best attacker in England out of nowhere.

If he is to go permanently, as all parties want, then that figure will have to drop dramatically for either Bayern or Leipzig to be a realistic destination. If that is wound up then Simons might pass him on the way towards SW6.

Chelsea know they must sell, and sell players used in their Conference League knockout stage squad, if they are to balance the UEFA books and register new signings for the Champions League on September 2. Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson (also linked to Bayern) are the two most sellable assets, and it is no surprise that both are training separately and will not play against West Ham.

Then there is the Bayern approach for Alejandro Garnacho. He is the other player Chelsea are keen to buy. This has gone down to the final week because of a difference in valuation with Manchester United that Chelsea believe they can lower as the end of the window gets closer.

However, without sales, nothing will move forward. Bayern tried to take advantage of that by asking about Garnacho's availability themselves, another point in all of this to consider.

Garnacho has his eyes set on Chelsea but if things do drag on then everyone will start to get a bit nervy over which transfers might actually be possible.

Once Bayern and Leipzig are done, they will be able to watch the end of Chelsea's Friday night match, should they wish. Before long, there could be a set of big-name transfers going on between all parties.

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