Chelsea’s pursuit of decorated defender is a blinkered strategy
Published:
Whoever succeeds Jose Mourinho as the full-time boss of Chelsea this summer will have a rebuilding job on his hands.
After a dire campaign in the Premier League, the Stamford Bridge outfit look certain to miss out on the top four, rated at 22/1 by Ladbrokes for the feat, and could even go without a spot in the Europa League with some 11 points to find to reach the top six.
The stage is perfectly set, then, for a new dawn at the Blues. The club’s younger stars can be prepared for the task of catapulting the club back into the sharp end of the top flight, by gaining much-needed experience in what’s left of the season.
Guus Hiddink, serving as interim boss until the end of the season, has indicated that he intends to hand his younger players more first-team chances as the season wears on.
Unfortunately though, the rest of the club seem to be singing from a different hymn sheet, as the latest transfer gossip from the King’s Road smacks of a short-sighted transfer approach.
According to the Daily Star, the Blues want PSG captain Thiago Silva on loan until the end of the season.
There are a number of issues with this deal. For starters, the Brazilian centre half is currently out of action with a knee injury, so wouldn’t be able to step into the breach immediately.
Silva is also 31, which means his considerable talent is more likely to decline than it is to improve and, what’s more, he’d be arriving to help a Chelsea campaign that is all but lost.
For the remaining games of the campaign, the Blues would be better served recalling 23-year-old Michael Hector – currently on loan at Reading – and giving him the chance to form an understanding alongside Gary Cahill or Kurt Zouma.
Nathan Ake, currently loaned to Watford, would be another option.
If Silva arrives for half a season, it will only serve to drain the club of funds and delay the new era the club desperately needs.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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