Roll on pre-season! But first, some transfer rumors of the striker kind, since that’s where our biggest need is at the moment. I mean, Michy Batshuayi is fun, but right now we have just one striker even if we were to consider him starter material, which isn’t exactly an obvious conclusion to draw based on last season.
Anyway, the expected move for Chelsea is to take the money we finally stumped up for Romelu Lukaku (£75m) and throw it at the problem again, but this time via Real Madrid. Here’s AS with the claim that Chelsea “will offer” €80m for Álvaro Morata — basically the same financial package that Manchester United were offering before switching targets.
Chelsea to offer Real Madrid 80 million euros for Álvaro Morata as player stays in Spain to accelerate discussionshttps://t.co/5wlDhxuzVR pic.twitter.com/sLi6kMJ3Ls
— AS English (@English_AS) July 10, 2017
Are we going to have to pay €80m to find out how that shirt ends? I HAVE... I HAVE... I HAVE... He has what?
Very vexing.
Almost as vexing as Chelsea spending €80m on Morata, but I guess that’s the price of business these days. Sounds a bit unrealistic. Conte supposedly wanted to sign the now 24-year-old last summer, too, of course, but his price then was a slightly more reasonable €60m (after Real paid €30m to buy him back from Juventus).
Speaking of rumor-returns, a slightly cheaper and perhaps more intriguing option would be to try again for Celtic’s Moussa Dembélé, who was linked with a €40m move to Chelsea in January. Nothing came of it at the time and the assumption had been that Dembélé would stay at least one more year in Scotland. But that league is far too easy for the former Fulham prospect who will turn 21 in two days.
Marseille want to sign Celtic striker Moussa Dembele. He's also an option for West Ham and Chelsea. Scored 32 times last season
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) July 10, 2017
Based on Chelsea’s spending habits, a €40m transfer is exponentially more likely to happen than an €80m transfer. When we factor in ages and track record, perhaps neither option can be immediately labeled a smart move, but we may be out of smart moves at this time.
That said, there are many who believe that Dembélé is the real deal and his semi-outrageous price will only get more outrageous in the next couple years. But Tammy Abraham, you might exclaim! And you might be right. But Tammy’s on his own path and that path is set for the next 12 months and Chelsea need a signing now. If Tammy does become as good as we hope he will be, he just might find it easier to usurp a couple €40m signings (Dembélé, Batshuayi) than one €80m signing.
Stay tuned.