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A few weeks ago, I proposed the idea that Chelsea should be chasing after Riccardo Montolivo as a viable Luka Modric alternative. Although he wasn't supposed to be that keen on the idea of leaving Italy, the ex-Fiorentina skipper is about the same age as the Croatian with broadly similar* skillsets, and he'd fit about as well into Chelsea as Modric would have. No, he doesn't have the Premier League experience and success Modric possesses, and he's less consistent, but then again he didn't have the playing-for-a-team-who-won't-sell-him-at-any-price thing going on either, so that all evened out.
*I know, not identical.
Fastforward to now and apart from a link to AC Milan which was dashed when the defending champions brought in Alberto Aquilani, Montolivo's been a) linked with nobody and b) basically told by Fiorentina that they're going to ship him off abroad at the earliest opportunity because he doesn't believe in the Fiorentina 'project'. To me, this strikes me as weird, especially at the cut-rate prices the Viola will be asking: The world is watching a cheap, talented central midfielder be made availble by his team and... doing nothing about it.
It would be one thing if he wasn't getting linked to Chelsea, despite my thinking he's a perfect fit. The Blues, thankfully, don't ask me to contribute to their transfer dealings. (You can tell because I'd pair David Luiz and Fabriccio Coloccini in front of Memo Ochoa). But Montolivo isn't getting linked to anybody at all. No rumours, no negotiations, no nothings.
Am I missing something, or is that really, really weird?