Are Chelsea chasing Rafael da Silva?

Between the victory parade (a consequence of winning the Champions League!) and the Fernando Torres quotes, all sorts of fun stuff is flying around Chelsea world today. I suppose this is to be expected, as the season is now officially over for every Premier League club and Chelsea are now on top of the footballing world. With Roberto Di Matteo becoming the first man to lead Chelsea to the coveted Champions League trophy, there is naturally all sorts of speculation about his future. Interestingly enough, this nugget was found at the end of a piece looking at exactly that:

Chelsea have also made efforts to recruit Rafael da Silva as a new right-back for next season, placing an inquiry with Manchester United last week. Sir Alex Ferguson, however, is unwilling to part with the 21-year-old Brazilian who has made close to 100 first-team appearances in his four seasons at Old Trafford.

Well that's an interesting nugget to drop in there. Rafael was not used much towards the end of the United campaign, but I doubt many feel that Phil Jones long term future is on the right side of the defense. With that in mind, it would be very surprising to see United become willing to part with such a dynamic young talent. That said, plenty of youngsters have been showing a willingness to leave Old Trattford lately due to the relatively small wages they offer younger players, so it will be interesting to see if Rafael has his head turned by the rumored interest.

One other thing to consider...this was reported by Duncan Castles so it may not even be real. It's nice to see us linked to players like this, as Rafael would be a fantastic replacement for Jose Bosingwa in my eyes and would offer some very nice cover for Branislav Ivanovic on the right. The fact that he's "homegrown" in the Premier League doesn't hurt either. With that in mind, we'll keep our eyes open for more news involving Rafael da Silva. Now back to celebrating!