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Report: Chelsea contemplating deal for Juventus superstar

Gabriele Maltinti

Ok, so this is the Sunday Mirror speculating, and as a result you shouldn't take this rumour too seriously. But dammit, you should want to take this rumour seriously: Chelsea and Juventus are apparently thinking about a swap deal which would send Ramires to Turin and see Arturo Vidal coming back to Stamford Bridge in return. Presumably Ramires would come carrying a bucketload of cash, too.

If you're not familiar with Arturo Vidal, he's basically been the driving force behind Juventus's resurgence as a force in both Italy and Europe. The Old Lady's midfield is one of the best in the game, and while beard fetishists will talk up Andrea Pirlo until you feel like murdering them with a rusty metal spike, the real talent there is Vidal, who I imagine pretty much everyone else in football regrets not signing after he quit the Bundesliga a few years ago. He can do everything, and he's a bit of a feisty little character to boot, which is something I rather enjoy.

As far as Ramires goes, it's becoming increasingly frustrating watching him fielded as a deep-lying midfielder over the past few seasons, because it takes away most of what makes him great while accentuating his weaknesses. Combine that with the idiotic suspensions he's been getting recently, I'd be completely fine with him leaving. Juventus have already been linked with him outside this swap deal, with the most common figure cited as around £20 million.

I would be willing to send something like £30 million -- probably more, if I'm being honest -- in cash along with Ramires to make a deal like this happen. In a three-man midfield, Ramires will do well at Juventus; in the pivot Vidal would combine with Nemanja Matic to give us quite easily the most dangerous central pairing in the league and one of the top partnerships in Europe.

I don't expect this to happen -- Vidal's too good to expect Juventus to just hand him to us -- but I want it. Really, really, really badly.

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