Higuain, Bonucci, Caldara transfers all but end Rugani pursuit for Chelsea

Chelsea have missed out on yet another target, assuming we were actually interested in Higuain in the first place — ed.note: Pedullà said so, so it must’ve been true, right? — as the former Napoli striker completed his move to AC Milan yesterday on a loan-to-buy deal, while Juventus’ highly promising defender Mattia Caldara was swapped for Milan’s Bonucci at the same time.

If that sounds complicated, that’s because it is. But what matters is that Juventus losing Caldara should mean the end of Chelsea’s pursuit of Daniele Rugani as well.

Double blow.

Chelsea’s interest in Higuain was always questionable due to Higuain’s age and his huge wages, not to mention surely the end of either Morata or Batshuayi. However, Chelsea seemed to make a strong play for Daniele Rugani (with or without Pedullà reporting on it) putting all our centre back eggs in this one basket. Maybe Rugani wasn’t needed either, but interest in him was reported constantly and consistently, and his familiarity with Sarri’s system, Chelsea’s aging core of defenders, and just his promise alone made that an understandable move.

Caldara moving to Milan leaves Rugani as the only under-30 centre back at Juventus, which makes it highly doubtful that he’s going to leave anytime soon. Add in the fact that this happened so late in the transfer window — one week to go in England (August 9), two weeks to go in Italy (August 17) — and it’s looking likely that Jorginho will end up Chelsea’s only major signing of the window.

Here’s hoping we’re able to pull a rabbit out of the hat and finish this transfer window with a bang.