Although we are a few months away from summer and still in the midst of the January transfer window, Chelsea are apparently already making plans for next season. According to reports from the London Evening Standard and La Gazzetta dello Sport, these plans might involve buying ALL THE LAZIO PLAYERS.
No, all of them.
The Standard reports that Chelsea scouts were sent to Italy to watch Biancocelesti defender Stefan de Vrij and midfielder Felipe Anderson, both of whom have already been tenuously linked before with the Blues. The 24-year-old Dutch defender De Vrij returned to action in July after recovering from a knee injury that took him out of contention for most of the 2015-16 season, quickly reestablishing himself as one of the country's best in his role as a central defender. A report from Il Tempo last month already claimed that Chelsea were intent on targeting De Vrij, aided by his contractual predicament.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Brazilian winger Felipe Anderson has kept his scintillating form going for a third consecutive season in the Serie A, having already aided the cause with 2 goals and 7 assists in the league from the right flank he often occupies in manager Simone Inzaghi's tactics. Both De Vrij and Anderson would cost around £35 million each according to the Standard's report.
Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport (via talkSport) adds one more Lazio name to our shortlist in striker Keita Balde. The 21-year-old Senegalese is currently representing his national team at the Africa Cup of Nations and has already given signs that he will look to leave the Italian club next summer, just as he tried to do last summer after claiming that the club have failed to fulfill promises they made to him. AC Milan are also in the chase for Keita's signature, although Gazzetta dello Sport's report claims that Lazio will likely prefer to sell the young player to a foreign club instead of reinforcing a domestic rival.
De Vrij and Anderson would be great additions to our squad, as young names who have established themselves as Serie A elites in the last few seasons. Keita however seems to be far from someone who could greatly aid our first-team next season, even if Diego Costa follows up on all his trolling by taking his talents to the Far East next summer for OUTRAGEOUS amounts of money.
All in all, it looks like Lazio are the new Roma. BUY ALL THE ROME-BASED PLAYERS!