While the press will claim there is quite a lot of sorting out to do at Chelsea this summer, notably finding a long-term replacement for John Terry, we here in the Football Transfer Tavern think their task is more easy than for most.
After all, the Blues boast a squad that only requires a few finishing touches in order to make it complete, if it isn’t already after Jose Mourinho scooped both the Premier League title and the Capital One Cup in his second season back in English football.
What’s for sure is that Chelsea rarely let a transfer window pass without dabbling in the market for a few fresh faces and big name additions, a few departures and also a crop of new youngsters to be seemingly destined for a switch to satellite club Vitesse Arnhem!
Being the superpower that they are in the modern game, Chelsea get linked with a whole host of names in countless rumours with some more believable than others but it is the ones of the unbelievable variety that punters are concentrating on this evening.
Our resident Blues supporters scour all of the papers each and every day by the bar here in the tavern, reading the column inches that suggest who might well be rocking up at Stamford Bridge in the near future.
Today, these fans have compiled a list of the most ridiculous transfer rumours they’ve heard to date concerning their beloved West London club.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 most ridiculous Chelsea transfer rumours heard so far this summer.
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Juan Cuadrado
Make no mistake; the jury is still very much out on Juan Cuadrado’s long-term prospects at Chelsea having only signed at the club as recently as in January!
The problem for the Colombian international is that he arrived into a side that was sweeping aside all of the opposition in front of them and with standards so high, slotting into this side and English football for the first time has proved hard for Cuadrado.
Possessing a bad touch and often losing the ball in possession, Cuadrado has been found wanting in his fledgling Blues career to date so for Chelsea fans to read in the Daily Star last month that the winger was interesting none other than Barcelona, you could forgive them for fainting in sheer amazement.
The reports claimed Luis Enrique’s side fancied Cuadrado as a replacement for Daniel Alves, far-fetched considering Cuadrado isn’t really a right back at all but as we all know, Alves has just signed a new deal with the treble winners.
Add to the fact that Barca went on to sign Sevilla’s Aleix Vidal despite their transfer ban and the Cuadrado rumours were well, just rumours that were absolutely unfounded!
Enner Valencia
Ask West Ham United fans what they’d rate Enner Valencia’s debut season in the Premier League out of 10 and they’ll probably say 9; ask any other football fan and they’ll probably be more realistic and say 6.
Yes, Valencia seemed to take to English football more easily than other foreign imports signed last summer but having scored just four goals in 32 Premier League appearances for the Hammers last season, our resident Blues fans are amazed at reports from Metro that Chelsea have been set a £30 million price tag to land the Ecuadorian.
Valencia signed for the East London side for £12 million last summer but to inflate his asking price to £30 million based on a top flight goal haul of just four strikes seems absolutely barmy!
Chelsea do need to look for striking reinforcements this summer with Didier Drogba having announced his decision to leave the Blues for a second time but if there’s any hint of truth in these rumours – we don’t believe that for one second – they better start looking elsewhere and fast.
Punters in the tavern believe that it was Valencia’s striker partner Diafra Sakho that enjoyed the better season of the pair so we’re awaiting the crazy claims the Hammers want £40 million for their Senegalese striker!
Andrea Pirlo
Surely most football fans felt a little for Italian legend Andrea Pirlo last Saturday evening where he ultimately missed out on landing what would’ve been his third Champions League triumph on his CV, going down 3-1 to Barcelona of course.
Juventus have moved quickly to source Pirlo’s replacement having reached an agreement to sign Real Madrid’s Sami Khedira yesterday and the early speculation suggests Pirlo is destined for a big money move to Major League Soccer much like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
However, last month The Independent ran a story which claimed both Chelsea and Liverpool were chasing after the midfielder who at that time was hinting that he may be leaving the Old Lady in the summer.
While Chelsea of course made an exception in the case of golden oldies when bringing Didier Drogba back to Stamford Bridge, the West London club are now very much a club building for the long-term with Jose Mourinho having talked about a Blues legacy on multiple ocassions.
We have seen evidence of this in the club’s signature of the likes of Eden Hazard, Kurt Zouma and Nemanja Matic in recent times so for Chelsea to sign an old stager like Pirlo seemed an incredibly far-fetched headline.
Theo Walcott & Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
As the Petr Cech transfer speculation continues to rumble on regarding a proposed high profile switch across London to the Blues’ rivals Arsenal, there continues to be little twists in the plot.
The latest is that Jose Mourinho doesn’t want to be so kind to his favourite enemy in allowing Cech a smooth passageway towards Emirates Stadium and is now requesting that either Theo Walcott or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain moves in the opposite direction as part of any proposed deal.
While the Ashley Cole – William Gallas swap deal did come to pass all those years ago, can you really see Arsene Wenger being prepared to let two of his project players in Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain really move to a rival side such as Chelsea?
Yes, Wenger has allowed the likes of Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie to complete highly controversial transfers to rival pastures in recent times but now the Emirates Stadium debt is paid off, the Gunners are that much more self sufficient.
We believe Arsenal do have firm designs on completing a deal for Cech this summer but if Chelsea do really want either of Walcott or Oxlade-Chamberlain in return to seal the deal, we can only see Wenger walking away from the deal and switching his attentions elsewhere.
Edin Dzeko
As mentioned previously, one of Chelsea’s summer transfer priorities simply has to be to bring in another striker to supplement the likes of Diego Costa and Loic Remy.
Even with Didier Drogba making up the striking threesome this past season, pundits claimed the Blues’ strikeforce still needed improving with the Ivorian legend way beyond his best years in the twilight of his career.
So with Drogba since departed, the onus is now on Mourinho to buy another forward with it still being extremely unlikely that Patrick Bamford will step up and complete this role at present despite his fantastic season spent with Middlesbrough.
Thus, the likes of Metro have linked the Blues with a £10 million swoop for Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko.
While you can believe that Dzeko may potentially be looking for a way out of the Etihad Stadium this summer following the Citizens’ purchase of Wilfried Bony in January, like in the case of Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain, can you really see Manuel Pellegrini strengthening a direct rival for the Premier League title?
We simply can’t.
