Chelsea linked with Kostas Manolas again

As quickly as Chelsea were once again reported to be in for AS Roma’s Konstantinos Manolas by various English and Italian tabloids, apparently ready to pay the Greece international’s release clause of approximately £33 million, just as quickly have these links now been denied by the centre-back’s agent who knows nothing of any interest in his client.

The 27-year-old featured in 40 games for the Giallorossi this past season and scored 4 goals in all competitions, most prominently the winning goal against Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals. Chelsea had already been linked to the centre-back numerous times last summer, even after signing Antonio Rüdiger from the same club.

Despite having signed a new and improved contract in Rome merely 6 months ago, Chelsea are nevertheless said to perceive Manolas as the perfect fit for their manager next season (whoever that may be), a narrative which has become a standard part of apparent Chelsea-rumour enthusiast Alfredo Pedulla.

While Pedulla’s own credibility certainly hangs in the balance, Manolas does fit in with the recent spate of reports linking Chelsea with reinforcements in defense (Rugani, Albiol, Hysaj, to name a few). Manolas certainly isn’t a bad choice to call one’s own, but the overall narrative of incoming centre-backs, a position Chelsea arguably needs the least amount of improvement, is a bit weird.

A large part of that is probably due to the managerial uncertainty at the club, so, as we’ve said many times before, let’s get that part sorted out already so we can move on to all the other business that Chelsea need to take care of this summer.