Bargain-priced César Azpilicueta in high demand with Barcelona, Bayern, Manchester United knocking on his door — report

Guillem Balague is Sky Sports' "Spanish Football Expert".  Here are a few of his expert-level words on César Azpilicueta, who's suddenly a most wanted man, apparently, despite having three more years left on his contract and recently re-affirming his happiness at Chelsea.

"Some of the top clubs in Europe are after Azpilicueta's signature, not least because of his versatility in being able to play in both full-back positions with equal confidence."

It is known.

"If Chelsea were willing to sell, the front runners would be Atletico Madrid, although they have recently coolled on the idea..."

So Chelsea are not willing to sell?

"There are, however, a host of clubs and top-flight managers that would love to see the Pamplona-born defender join their ranks..."

At this point, we get a near-litany of clubs, including — [deep breath] — PSG (and Unai "on the very verge of taking over" Emery — the VERY verge!), Athletic Bilbao (thanks to Dave's Basque roots), Bayern Munich (apparently they like "ambidextrous qualities"), Barcelona (as the Hector Bellerín fallback option), and of course Manchester United (can't win the Champions League without 11 Azpilicuetas, right, José?).

Six transfer rumors for the price of one!  Not a bad deal.  But you know what would be a bad deal (for Chelsea)? €18m for Azpilicueta.

"...if Chelsea are going to sell him, to make it worth their while they will be looking for around 18m euros for the utility full-back..."

"Chelsea will however stick to their valuation primarily because they would be quite happy to see him stay at the club although they wouldn't stand in his way if they received an offer that they felt they couldn't refuse."

-Guillem Balague; source: Sky

So I guess we're not willing to sell but we are willing to sell if we get an offer we couldn't refuse or if somebody just throws some loose change at us.

So you've heard the expert opinion.  Let me offer my decidedly non-expert one:  what a load of nonsense!

Let's go back to the quotes I referenced at the top.

"[Mourinho?] No. If you believe me or don't believe me."

"It's always a compliment that you are wanted. I've heard highly about [Bilbao boss] Ernesto Valverde but I'm focused on the national team and Chelsea. I've been there for four years, I am very happy and I feel highly valued."

-César Azpilicueta; source: Cadena Cope via The Sun

Carry on.