Chelsea will be looking for a central defender this summer, that much is clear.
Thiago Silva is leaving, Wesley Fofana has been injured for two years, Benoit Badiashile has been very shaky (despite recent improvements), Trevoh Chalobah could be sold to balance the books, Axel Disasi doesn’t convince as a potential title winning defender.
That really leaves a major gap for a top class centre back to be the rock in our team. Arsenal’s recent success has been built on the rock solid foundation of Gabriel and William Saliba at the back. Without that pair, they would be nowhere near this level. Chelsea need to find at least one player who can start the same process for them.
Getting two at once would be greedy – but finding out top tier option would bring this team on massively.
All of the ingredients
One interesting option we’ve yet see mentioned – but we’re sure will start to come up in the near future – is Murillo of Nottingham Forest. His arrival in the Premier League was slightly clouded by the fact that he arrived as part of their scattergun spend over the last 2 years, but he’s since proven to be the best of the lot (apart from their bargain buy of Callum Hudson-Odoi for just £4m).
Fans of Murillo rave about him – he’s physical, smart and great on the ball. He’s still just 21.
The stumbling block is his price. The Athletic reported this week that Forest value him at £70m already, and that will only go up as he gains Premier League experience. Their Profit and Sustainability Rule concerns could lead them to wanting to sell him a at a cut price however, something Chelsea should certainly keep an eye on.
There is no doubt going to be heavy competition, but that’s natural. If only we had that £80m from Fofana back…
