Chelsea should bite Roma’s hand off in potential Torres swap deal
Published:When Chelsea splashed the cash on Fernando Torres back in 2011, a sense of excitement was present around Stamford Bridge. But with three years of disappointment, the man nicknamed El Nino has become the butt of many a joke amongst British football fans.
A swap deal with Roma’s Mattia Destro could now be in the pipeline, meaning now may be the time for both the Spaniard to resurrect his career, and the Blues to unload their most expensive flop.
In Destro, Roma have a real talent on their books. The 23-year-old has netted 19 goals in 41 appearances for theGiallorossi and featured for the Italian national team in Brazil.
Chelsea will be resigned to the fact that they will not get anywhere near the £50m they paid for Torres, so a swap deal for a real prospect could be their best hope.
And with the arrival of Diego Costa over the summer, anyone joining the west London club will be all too aware they are unlikely to be starting week in week out, so a move for a striker who is far from a regular starter in Rome could be a shrewd move.
While the move could be a good one for Chelsea, Roma and Torres himself could well benefit from any potential deal.
A mainstay in Roma’s starting line-up last season, netting seven times, Gervinho, has been a revelation since switching to the Stadio Olimpico.
Labelled as somewhat of a donkey at Arsenal, the Curva Sud will be asking themselves why the Gunners let him go.
Another relative struggler in the Premier League, Giuseppe Rossi put poor spells at Manchester United and Newcastle (one goal in 16 appearances) behind him with a move to Southern Europe.
Eight goals in 19 starts at Parma engineered a particularly fruitful move to Villarreal before returning to the Serie A with Fiorentina in 2012, netting an impressive 20 times in 21 since.
So with Chelsea looking imperious so far this season, albeit one game in, a swap deal involving Torres and Destro could be an excellent move for all involved, and would only strengthen Jose Mourinho’s side as they seek a fourth Premier League title – a feat currently priced at 11/8.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publishing
