Chelsea's defensive shake-up is finally starting to take some shape after months of speculation in relation to who could possibly be replacing the likes of the already gone Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta could follow suit but regardless of the Spaniards' decisions regarding their own future amid strong Barcelona interest, new owner Todd Boehly has a number of big decisions on his hands. Do you give Levi Colwill a chance and promote him to the first team or will you need to sign at least two new centre-backs to compensate for the departures of the La Liga-bound pair?
These questions will soon be answered in due course with solutions to this conundrum expected very soon as Thomas Tuchel and a selection of his players return to Cobham later this week to start their pre-season preparations. Matthijs de Ligt is now the prime target to replace Rudiger with Tuchel reportedly eager to see a deal struck with Juventus which in turn could end Timo Werner's nightmare in West London.
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Although there is still some distance in their valuations regarding this player plus cash deal, the expectation from the Chelsea side is that the Dutchman will be one of the first signings of the Boehly era. Who partners him still remains largely up in the air. The hope from Chelsea supporters on social media is that long-term target Jules Kounde is to be signed still after this long drawn-out transfer pursuit that has stretched back to last summer.
Unfortunately, Marina Granovskaia leaving her role on the Blues board has put a spanner in the works as it was revealed shortly after that the 23-year-old was in fact her target more so than Tuchel's. Furthermore, the identity of de Ligt's potential defensive partner still remains largely up in the air. Still, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has dropped the biggest hint yet that a new Premier League proven defender is to join in this £200million plus rebuild that is being touted around.
He wrote on CaughtOffside regarding the defensive situation: "Todd Boehly will listen to Thomas Tuchel’s ideas this summer. The plan is to reinforce the team and this is being worked on. Matthijs de Ligt is a priority for the defence, but the Blues are waiting to see if Juventus will extend his contract or not; keep an eye also on Nathan Ake because he is highly rated by Tuchel. As for Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, following the departure of Marina Granovskaia, there have been no new contacts yet, but he has always been on the Chelsea list: Sevilla want €65m (55m) fee.
"Elsewhere, Man City’s Raheem Sterling is the first choice as a new winger, there will soon be a new proposal at Man City after the personal terms have already been discussed. Boehly is also very attentive to the contractual situations of players like N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mason Mount – all of whom are waiting for answers as soon as possible."
Ake, valued at around £23m by transfermarkt, has shown his versatility in the past to play in both a back three and four, so that could be an added bonus to Tuchel who could play around with some formations in the upcoming pre-season.
Chelsea fans - would a backline pair of Matthijs de Ligt and Nathan Aké work in your opinion? Leave your thoughts down below in the comments section!
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