Begovic transfer hits a snag, as Chelsea rush to complete deal before Manchester United enter the market

Earlier on Saturday, we were supposedly down to the last hurdle.  The final hurdle!  Now, we might be having trouble clearing said last hurdle.  Surprise!  Part of our problem could be that the last hurdle is actually three last hurdles, at least if we're to believe Sami Mokbel at the Mail.  Even as far as Mail correspondents go, Mokbel is fairly low on the reliability chart.

Chelsea, who have already had a £6 million bid rejected by the Stoke, will intensify their efforts to land the 28-year-old [goalkeeper] this week. Begovic will look to resolve his future in the coming days.

-source: Daily Mail

Hurdle #1:  David de Gea and Manchester United.  Apparently, we are in a rush to wrap up Asmir Begovic's move to Stamford Bridge to avoid going into a possible "transfer war" against Van Gaal and Manchester United if De Gea decides to leave the Red Devils to another club -- most probably Real Madrid.

Hurdle #2:  Price.  Previous reports had us agreeing on £8m, but now the Mail also report that Stoke may be holding out for £10m.  Whatever.

Hurdle #3:  Squad role.  Apparently, Begovic still needs be persuaded as to why moving to the Blues would be good for his career, seeing as how he'd be looking at the prospect of becoming Thibaut Courtois' back-up.  This last claim is perhaps the only truly worrisome hurdle, but previous reports had us believing this was already resolved.  If Begovic's intention is to keep playing as a first-team goalkeeper, moving to Chelsea isn't the best move to make. He could get some minutes by playing in domestic and maybe continental cup matches, filling in for Courtois whenever he's out due to injury or form in important matches; but he'd still be far from becoming Chelsea's first choice goalkeeper. But if he's looking for trophies, a good environment and working for one of the best coaches in history, Stamford Bridge is the place to be.

With Chelsea players set to start reporting back for preseason on Monday and Tuesday (that's in less than a day or two!), it sure would be nice to get the backup goalkeeper situation sorted soon.  Rumors on options other than Begovic have gone very quiet; it would appear that the 28-year-old is our primary target for this spot.