Chelsea chases Palace defender Lacroix; Rogers deal breaks the bank (again)

Sky Sports News says Chelsea has started chatting with Palace about snapping up Maxence Lacroix, 26 years old and only joined the Eagles from Wolfsburg in 2024. Palace, naturally, wants more than £55m for the bloke. Tottenham coughed up that much for Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton, so why shouldn't they try to rinse Chelsea too?

These clubs, Chelsea and Palace, they're practically old friends. They've done business before, what with Trevoh Chalobah and Ben Chilwell changing shirts. Chelsea desperately needs a big, mean centre-back with some actual Premier League mileage. Lacroix? He's supposedly the guy.

Rogers showed up for his Chelsea medical Monday morning. Good lad. He's about to ink a six-year contract, with an optional extension that drags him out until 2033. This deal? It just blew past Manchester City's Elliot Anderson and his measly £116m, setting a new British transfer record. Rogers is now the most expensive player Chelsea has ever bought, nudging Moises Caicedo's £115m fee from 2023 off the top spot. Chelsea. They love breaking records. Especially their own.

Funny how Chelsea always seems to find cash, isn't it? They've already pulled in about £130m from flogging players this window. More departures? You bet. Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile, Malo Gusto, and Axel Disasi are all on the potential chopping block. Always shuffling the deck, that lot.