/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59864995/GettyImages_917238906.0.jpg)
It’s a season of transition once again at Chelsea Football Club. Out with the old, in with the new. When it comes to the head coach, that doesn’t necessarily refer to age (Conte is ten years Sarri’s junior), but when it comes to players, it very much does. Or at least should.
Quite a few of Chelsea’s longest-serving, and most used players over the past several seasons are around or already above the dreaded three-oh. Jay-Z might have told you that 30 is the new 20, but in professional football, 30 is still very much the old 30. Cahill, David Luiz, Fàbregas, Pedro, and Giroud are all 30 or over; Willian will turn 30 later this summer. Other core players are right in their prime of 27 and 28 (Azpilicueta, Hazard, Kanté). Age is but a number, and every player is different, but these generic guidelines still apply to a certain degree. In order to stay competitive, the squad has to be continually refreshed, especially in these days of the Blues no longer wielding supreme financial power when compared with the Manchesters, the Madrids, and the Parises of the world.
Michy Batshuayi, at 24, is a fine example of that refresh, in theory anyway. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that he’s just as likely to prefer Borussia Dortmund as he is Chelsea, and while those transfer rumors have been more or less put on hold due to the World Cup, Michy’s future remains very much unresolved.
There have been contacts between Dortmund and Chelsea over Michy Batshuayi. The German club would like to sign him on a permanent basis. No decisions taken. Player will decide his future after the World Cup. #cfc pic.twitter.com/Soi4uuFPkP
— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) May 26, 2018
His recent quotes to that effect must have greased the wheels of the rumor mill however, as here comes the Mail with tidings of “further talks” between the two clubs and a potential £50m bid. But what’s truly interesting is this tiny line in paragraph three.
Chelsea want around £50million for the 24-year-old but could use Dortmund’s interest to help prise Christian Pulisic from the Bundesliga club.
-source: Mail
As much as Michy is tremendous fun, Pulisic is the future, and not just for the US Men’s National Team where he’s already taken the mantle of greatest player ever at just 19. With 97 appearances for BVB (including 15 games at Champions League level), Pulisic is a minute away from being a global superstar and if Chelsea have any chance, any opportunity to get him to Stamford Bridge, we must take advantage of it. Like the Eden Hazard gambit in 2012, this could be a generation-defining move, and we must do everything in our power to make it so.
Pulisic, who has two years left on his current deal with BVB, is saying all the standard things for now, but if he’s got the ambition to match his talents, he will move and move soon-ish.
“Obviously I don’t look into that like a lot of other people do. I’m very focused with Dortmund and under contract with Dortmund. They’ve just always given me opportunities.
“Down the road, you never know.”
-Christian Pulisic; source: CBS Sports
Pulisic has been increasingly linked with Premier League teams, though Chelsea continue to lag behind the likes of United, Liverpool, and Spurs.
That will simply not do, whoever’s in charge back there. Get to it!