With Radamel Falcao yet to officially put pen to paper on a season-long loan deal with Chelsea, the full expectation is that this will be concluded in a matter of time.
If the truth be told, our resident Blues fans aren’t so pleased with this deal with the Colombian international looking to the world like a player who is on a steady decline in his career.
All the better for Blues fans that Chelsea continue to be linked with Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann then with the latest from the Evening Standard that Jose Mourinho will offer £35.5 million plus Mohamed Salah in an attempt to prise the French international away from the Vicente Calderon.
Perhaps Griezmann is a smidgen more attainable than he was only weeks ago with Atletico having already wrapped up a deal to land Villarreal’s Argentine striker Luciano Vietto, not to mention closing in on a deal to sign Porto’s sought-after Jackson Martinez.
While Martinez is widely seen as a like-for-like replacement for the now departed Mario Mandzukic who joined Juventus, the capture of Vietto as well is being looked on with intrigue in regards to the fact he could well be a like-for-like replacement for Griezmann.
Griezmann is an excellent player with skill in abundance and an ability to play either up top or on the flanks.
Earlier this summer, Jose Mourinho came out and publicly denied that the Frenchman was a player Chelsea were interested in but as we know with the Portuguese boss, some things he says must be taken with a pinch of salt.
If Chelsea do get their way and land Griezmann, who could be joining him in West London however?
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 players to follow Antoine Griezmann to Chelsea this summer.
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Giannelli Imbula
Liguq 1 giants Marseille are experiencing something of a crisis right now with the club desperate to offload some of their prized assets in a bid to comply with stricter financial regulations that even threaten to relegate Marcelo Bielsa’s side if they’re not abided by.
Star winger Dimitri Payet if of course closing in on a switch to West Ham United and another player that could be about the flee the Stade Velodrome is Giannelli Imbula.
A lesser known talent, Imbula has been shoring up Marseille’s midfield in recent seasons and is a domineering presence that enjoys a tackle and the nitty gritty side of the game.
The latest from The Express is that Marseille are desperate for interest from both Arsenal and Chelsea ahead of regrettably negotiating Imbula’s exit due to the financial cloud hanging over them.
Imbula has already seen transfers to Valencia and Inter Milan fall through due to those clubs landing Rodrigo Caio and Geoffrey Kondogbia and perhaps the Blues might be in for his services.
With John Obi Mikel potentially set to depart Stamford Bridge, Chelsea could do a lot worse than Imbula as his like-for-like replacement.
Asmir Begovic
Petr Cech’s formality of a transfer to Arsenal is set to be concluded following a successful medical next week so Jose Mourinho’s immediate priority will be to land another goalkeeper to be Thibaut Courtois’ new understudy.
With Jamal Blackman and Mitchell Beeney expected to scrap it out as third / fourth choice, the standout candidate to replace the long-serving Cech is Stoke City’s Asmir Begovic.
Having performed over 150 times for the Potters in the Premier League, Blues fans know exactly what they’ll be getting from Begovic and to be honest, if Courtois wasn’t even on the scene, the Bosnian international would surely make for a good first choice, such has been the consistency in his performances that we’ve grown used to.
The talk has been that Chelsea will be able to secure a deal for Begovic with Potters loanee of last season Victor Moses expected to permanently depart Stamford Bridge in the opposite direction.
However more recently, The Guardian have claimed that Nigerian international Moses is reluctant to prove a makeweight in any deal meaning this transfer is anything but complete at present.
Paul Pogba
We had all thought that the Paul Pogba rumours were dead but how foolish we were.
The rumours circulating around the sought-after French international are back after The Mirror claimed that Chelsea could yet use Oscar as a makeweight in an attempt to persuade Juventus to part with their most prized asset.
Pogba is currently rated at £70 million but one thing is for sure; Juventus have been long-term admirers of Oscar whose consistency in performances certainly dipped last season.
It remains to be seen whether Oscar plus cash would be enough to seal what would be the biggest transfer of the summer but the complication is that the Brazilian international has already claimed he is happy in West London and doesn’t want a move this summer.
Juventus have already brought Sami Khedira to Turin as a like-for-like replacement for the departing Andrea Pirlo and Oscar would replace Pogba in the box-to-box role but surely this story will run and run to September?
Robert Green
In a recent article by Metro, the publication spoke about the importance placed upon the likes of Chelsea to secure English players this summer in an attempt to adhere to the Premier League’s new home grown player policy.
If the Blues intend on selling any more squad players such as Filipe Luis, there will be an onus on sourcing English players as direct replacements and with Petr Cech now all but an Arsenal player, it has been questioned whether Jose Mourinho will look to land an English player as Thibaut Courtois’ understudy.
Despite QPR’s relegation last term, one man who did perform relatively well despite the R’s plight was Robert Green who if signed, would only need to travel a short distance up the road to Stamford Bridge.
You could excuse Blues fans for feeling largely underwhelmed in replacing the world class Petr Cech with Robert Green but this is a prospect that may well indeed happen.
Chelsea would love to land the aforementioned Begovic instead but rules are rules for a reason and we have seen that the Blues have been staunch advocates of Financial Fair Play in recent times so perhaps home grown player quotas will be a doddle too!
Alex Song
Another player who would represent something of an underwhelming signing is former Arsenal man Alex Song who is out in the wilderness at Barcelona.
Having enjoyed a good season-long loan spell at West Ham United last term, Song is another player that is somewhat sought-after due to the fact that he counts as a home grown commodity, having effectively started his first team career at Arsenal.
A player who could be a like-for-like replacement for John Obi Mikel, Chelsea fans aren’t really keen not only due to the fact that he is a former Arsenal player but the fact that they simply don’t think he is up to the levels this Chelsea team is currently performing at.
With Falcao and perhaps Green and Song joining him in West London, Chelsea fans are currently claiming that the home grown policy is allowing several mediocre players to slip through the net and into their team for next season and this is something they’re not happy with.
