With England now out of the European competitions, and a little less than a month until the next Premier League season starts, we’re in full offseason mode now. Welcome to the silly season! Time to talk transfer rumors.
Chelsea have made some moves in the final third (and been linked to more moves in that position group), but the back line is where they really need help. Stamford Bridge needs some upgrades at multiple positions in the defender position group, and we’ll look at centre back in this edition of Chelsea transfer rumors.
John Stones, 26, has been linked with a move to the Blues, according to the Daily Mirror.
According to some insiders, Stones fell out of favor with Pep Guardiola this past season, and he’s unlikely to get back into the first team, especially now that the club has signed Nathan Ake, a former Chelsea man to add to depth at the position.
Since Vincent Kompany retired, City have had some issues in central defense when the injury bug has bit the position group. City made a £47 million deal in 2016 with Everton in order to make John Stones the second most expensive defender in the entire world at the time.
If Chelsea land him, they still could sign Lewis Dunk from Brighton & Hove Albion, or vice versa. That’s also according to the Mirror, who report that Brighton rate Dunk with a valuation of £40 million.
That’s not cheap, but it’s certainly more cost effective than some of the other central defenders we’ve seen linked with Chelsea this summer.
If Frank Lampard does land both Lewis Dunk and John Stones, it remains to be seen how much of an upgrade that really is over the three players who rotate in the first team central defense pairing: Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma and Antonio Rudiger.
It’s going to be all about fit in the system, and this summer is about manager Frank Lampard trying to put his stamp on the roster by adding more players of his choosing.
At the very least however, Chelsea needs to add another CB to give them at least the depth of having four regulars to chose from.
The Blues would be best served to get somebody who could provide a sense of strong leadership from the position like Gary Cahill and John Terry once did.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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