At the time of writing, our resident Chelsea supporters in the Football Transfer Tavern were eagerly waiting for their club to make their third major signing of the summer with the news that Baba Rahman is closing on on his switch to Stamford Bridge.
A name few of our Blues contingent are familiar with, we have grown more and more accustomed to hearing his name of late in recent weeks and now everything points towards the Ghanaian international becoming Filipe Luis’ successor.
Highly rated in the Bundesliga given the time he has enjoyed with FC Augsburg, Rahman will face a tough task to break into Jose Mourinho’s starting eleven on a consistent basis with Cesar Azpilicueta having made the left back spot his own in recent seasons.
That said, Rahman has already won 11 senior international caps for the Black Stars while forging part of the Ghana squad that finished as runners-up in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
Elsewhere, Chelsea supporters would’ve liked some more signings, perhaps another midfielder and another striker and although Mourinho may claim his squad is pretty much complete this summer, you can never second guess the Portuguese tactician.
That’s why we’ve devised of five Blues targets who we believe could end up following Rahman into Stamford Bridge over the next few weeks.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 Chelsea transfers waiting to happen after Baba Rahman’s arrival.
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Godfred Donsah
A name unlikely to blow any Chelsea supporters away but according to a recent report by The Telegraph, they claim that the Blues are again set to beat London rivals Tottenham to the signing of Cagliari midfielder Godfred Donsah.
Uncapped by Ghana at international level to date, Donsah is still only 19-years-old yet played 20 times for the Sardinian club as they were relegated from Serie A last term.
A diamond in the rough in a relegation campaign for Gianfranco Zola’s old club Cagliari, the now Serie B side know that with such interest in their Ghanaian talent, they’ll have to sell and with Baba Rahman arriving, perhaps this is another reason why his fellow countryman Donsah would rather join the Blues.
John Stones
According to reports by the Daily Mail yesterday evening, Chelsea’s third improved bid of £30 million for John Stones will be turned down by the Toffees who are intent on keeping the England international at Goodison Park this summer.
It’s clear to every man and his dog that Jose Mourinho likes the former Barnsley defender and what’s more, Roberto Martinez has even claimed that the defender has had his head turned by the interest.
We think that Everton will continue rebuffing the Blues advances for a little while longer but if Stones indicates to Everton that he no longer wants to play a part on Merseyside, we think this could still have the potential to push a deal through while forcing the Toffees’ hand.
While some will claim the 21-year-old and his agent won’t be man enough to follow this tact, we’ve seen it in football so often previously.
Gonzalo Higuain
Just what does the future hold for this man who is reportedly available this summer, yet has been towards the background regarding a transfer away from Napoli.
The latest on Gonzalo Higuain’s situation is that both Manchester United and Chelsea have been placed on red alert after the Argentine and his agent / brother scoffed at what they believe to be a mediocre contractual extension on the Serie A club’s part.
While this will be a difficult deal for Chelsea to pull off with Napoli and Aurelio De Laurentiis renowned for their hardball stance, not to mention their ridiculous player valuations, if Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao flatter to further deceive, perhaps Mourinho will be tempted to swoop.
Everybody expected Diego Costa to miss the weekend’s fixture with Swansea City but with the Spanish international injury prone and susceptible to bookings and subsequent bans, Blues fans would like to see more reliable back-up brought in and Mourinho has worked with Higuain before at Real Madrid.
Gerson
Another lesser known star like Godfred Donsah, this is probably because Gerson is just 18-years-old but he is incredibly highly-rated in his Brazilian homeland with Fluminense.
An attacking midfielder by trade, talkSPORT recently claimed that Roma are threatening to defeat the Blues in the race for Gerson’s signature with the Serie A giants reportedly ready to bid for the man who Barcelona have first refusal on.
However, we think if Chelsea are serious about his signature, they stand an awfully good chance of landing him given the club’s dabbling in signing young Brazilian talents in recent seasons.
Having signed Wallace and Lucas Piazon previously, the Blues have more recently brought Nathan to Stamford Bridge from Atletico Paranaense and the Blues’ South American scouting network could again prove crucial here.
We do think he’d be susceptible to the old Vitesse Arnhem loan move however!
Axel Witsel
This rumour has subsided of late but back in July, Metro were among many publications that claimed Chelsea were closing in on the £22.9 million signing of Axel Witsel from Zenit Saint-Petersburg.
Ever since, it seems as if Jose Mourinho will be keeping faith with John Obi Mikel and Ramires as cover in central midfield but it must be said that earlier in the summer, Mikel’s agent had claimed that the Nigerian had his eyes set on a switch away from West London.
With many publications having commented upon the Witsel rumour, there must be something in the link and with Zenit having parted with Salomon Rondon to West Bromwich Albion yesterday, we wonder whether they’d be keen on recouping some more funds for their Belgian international midfielder.
