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Jose Mourinho reportedly eyeing England U21 keeper to replace Petr Cech

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It seems a foregone conclusion at this point that Petr Cech will be departing Chelsea this summer, and that the Blues will be looking for a replacement. The Telegraph is reporting a new target that Chelsea could be looking at, with Jose reportedly taking a midweek trip to watch 22-year old Marcus Bettinelli of Fulham.

Bettinelli has been impressive since debuting for the Cottagers this season, and made his England U21 debut this past September. He'll have just one year to run on his Fulham contract after this season, so if the club don't feel they can get the player inked to a new deal, it's likely he'll be moving on this summer. Enter Chelsea, who have an obvious need for a keeper.

As far as Chelsea are concerned, Bettinelli would seem to be a close to ideal replacement for Cech. The 6'4" keeper is young, talented, would qualify as homegrown, and certainly wouldn't cost anything that the Blues would be unable to afford. He'd certainly be a more exciting addition than a guy like Rob Green, who seems to be the name most often linked to the backup job.

That said, the move probably doesn't make nearly as much sense for the player, who would have little to no chance of unseating Thibaut Courtois. Unless Bettinelli is happy watching the Blues win silverware from the bench (while being paid quite well) as opposed to actually playing, a move to a cub with less stability in goal would seem far more logical. I'm sure we're watching Bettinelli, as he's both talented and right under Chelsea's nose, but this one doesn't seem overly feasible as far as I'm concerned.

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