Chelsea did not consider transfer for in-form Tottenham superstar due to under-25 transfer policy - Reports

Chelsea reportedly did not consider a move for Tottenham Hotspur new boy James Maddison due to a self-imposed age restriction on new signings.

According to the Telegraph (h/t Metro), the Blues' policy was to only sign players under the age of 25 this summer. This ruled out Maddison from their shortlist, with the player turning 27 in November.

Chelsea have signed 12 players this summer and none of them are older than the age of 25. Christopher Nkunku and Axel Disasi (both 25) are the oldest of the lot while seven of those players are 21 or younger.

Maddison had long been linked with an exit from Leicester City but he was finally given the green light to leave this summer after the Foxes relegation to the Championship. Tottenham ultimately signed him on a five-year deal for a fee of £40 million.

The England international's signing is already paying dividends. Goals and assists aside, he has arguably been one of Spurs' most consistent and lively players in the starting stages of the 2023-24 season.

Maddison has scored and assisted two goals each in his four Premier League games for the north London club. His latest contribution came in the form of his team's third goal in a 5-2 thumping of Burnley on Saturday (2 September).

Maddison's passing range and shooting accuracy has made him one of Tottenham's main threats in attack after Harry Kane's move to Bayern Munich. Spurs are second in the table with 10 points from four games — six ahead of 11th-placed Chelsea.

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Tottenham failed to sign Chelsea midfielder on deadline day - reports

Tottenham Hotspur were reportedly interested in signing Chelsea's £50 million-rated midfielder Conor Gallagher.

According to TalkSPORT though, they had to end their interest in the Englishman on deadline day (1 September) due to their failure to offload Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Ange Postecoglou considers the Danish midfielder and Atletico Madrid were interested in signing him.

However, the Lilywhites failed to offload Hojbjerg, which meant Tottenham couldn't formalize their interest in Chelsea's 23-year-old midfielder. It would have been interesting to see what Mauricio Pochettino's reaction would have been had Chelsea sold him to Spurs.

Despite the high-profile arrivals of Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Enzo Fernandez this year, 'Poch' has named Gallagher in his starting XI in all four league games so far.

The player also publicly addressed his love for the club earlier this summer and said he was excited to play under the Argentine tactician. Tottenham, meanwhile, ended up signing the highly versatile attacker Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest for £47.5 million on deadline day.