Chelsea one step closer to Asmir Begovic deal

Chelsea lost Petr Cech to Arsenal, and if earlier reports are to be believed, we almost lost another quality backup goalkeeper on the market to Manchester United. But according to the Guardian, the latter won't happen as Bosnian international goalkeeper Asmic Begovic is set to join the Blues after five and a half seasons defending Stoke City.

The Guardian claims that Chelsea's first bid, believed to be around £6 million, was quickly rejected by Stoke City. But Chelsea's second bid along with the pressure from Begovic's contract situation — he only had one year left on his deal and renewal talks had broken down — the identification of a backup to Jack Butland (the veteran Shay Given), and Chelsea's willingness to loan one of our promising youngsters made the Potters ease into the idea of losing one of their main players.

Said youngster going on loan to Stoke City is supposedly Dutch midfielder Marco van Ginkel, who had a good span of games late in the season while defending AC Milan in Italy, and was one of the few bright spots in the Rossonero starting eleven.  Van Ginkel could potentially help fill the hole left behind by Steven N'Zonzi's recent departure, making this a good move all around for both parties.