Chelsea seeking £8 million for Bertrand, according to reports

The Telegraph are reporting that Chelsea are holding out for £8 million for left-back Ryan Bertrand, an amount that would certainly help offset the cost of acquiring Filipe Luis from Atletico Madrid. The paper is reporting that Liverpool have already made an offer of £6 million, and that Tottenham Hotspur have shown interest before. Aside from the amount Chelsea are reportedly seeking, none of that is really breaking news.

Potentially selling Bertrand is a bit of a double-edged sword. He's one of the few players in recent memory to come through the Chelsea academy and actually make a meaningful impact with the first team. While he never really showed anything beyond the ability to be quality squad depth, that sort of player has value, especially when he doesn't cost an inflated transfer fee to acquire.

On the flip-side of that coin, with the impending arrival of a top flight left back and the continued presence of both Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta, there's just very little reason to believe that Bertrand would see any actual time on the pitch this season. As a fan of the kid, it's hard to fault him for wanting to be somewhere that he'd actually get to show his stuff*. Getting a moderately sized transfer fee would be a nice bonus as well.

*Though being forced to wear Liverpool's awful Warrior kits would be excessively cruel and unusual

It's hard to imagine that somebody won't eventually step up and meet Chelsea's asking price for Bertrand, as given his age and home-grown status, it really doesn't seem out of whack with the current market in England. Hopefully it gets resolved quickly though, as that would be best for all parties involved.