Sensible Transfers: Chelsea hope fourth place will help Rice and Chilwell deals
https://theathletic.com/1962382/2020/07/31/chelsea-transfers-summer-premier-league-rice-chilwell/
Nobody can accuse Chelsea of being dull this season and the entertainment is only going to continue now the summer transfer window is officially open.
Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner are already training with their new team-mates, having completed their moves from Ajax and RB Leipzig respectively, but plans are in place to make sure Chelsea remain very busy in the market over the coming weeks.
There are a lot of positives to take from a season that saw the club finish fourth in the Premier League. Christian Pulisic is showing signs his £57 million move from Borussia Dortmund could be a bargain, while young academy graduates such as Mason Mount and Reece James look like being mainstays of the squad for years to come.
Frank Lampard has primarily used the 4-3-3 system during his first season in charge, with a high press, ensuring Chelsea are taking the attack to the opposition in most games. But they haven’t been ruthless, as their total of 69 goals from 38 league games suggests.
Their style has made them very vulnerable to the counter-attack, plus their weakness in the defence, especially from set pieces, was regularly exposed. They ended up conceding 54 times — joint 11th in the division.
Improving that back line is a priority. The Athletic explained in December how Leicester City’s England international Ben Chilwell is their first choice to play at left-back and discussed at the beginning of July why Declan Rice is the main target to play at centre-half, despite being employed as a defensive midfielder at current club West Ham United.
West Ham manager David Moyes has warned Chelsea it will take “Bank of England” money — aka, a fee in the region of £80 million — to get Rice to make the same trip across London his boss Lampard did in 2001.
This will be a difficult transfer to conclude: it is understood Chelsea have no interest in paying such a large sum; West Ham are in a strong position after staying in the Premier League and are under less pressure financially to sell a key player; and there are four years of Rice’s contract left to run.
But The Athletic has been assured that Chelsea are still keen on the idea and have high hopes something can be done. For starters, they are confident Rice, who was released by their academy at the age of 14, can be persuaded to return — especially as they can offer him Champions League football.
Chelsea are also one of the biggest payers in the Premier League. Their wage bill for the financial year ending 2018-19 was at £314 million, trailing only Manchester United (£352 million) and Manchester City (£315 million). New acquisition Werner is believed to have been given a deal that will rise to £170,000 a week, plus bonuses. The club are willing to pay Rice significantly more than the salary he agreed with West Ham in 2018, which is thought to be way below £100,000 per week.
It has been reported that Chelsea could offer players as part of the negotiations, and this is a possibility. Moyes remains an admirer of their England midfielder Ross Barkley, who made his professional debut under him for Everton in 2011.
It should be highlighted that an inquiry was made for Bayern Munich defender David Alaba earlier in the year, but he wasn’t interested. The pursuit of Chilwell has taken a positive twist with Leicester, who spent much of the season in the Champions League places, ending up in fifth and dropping into next season’s Europa League. Chelsea were already optimistic about luring the England international away from the King Power Stadium and he is regarded as one of the key potential signings on Lampard’s shopping list.
Like Rice, the valuation provides a potential stumbling block. Leicester regard him at a similar level to former team-mate Harry Maguire, who they sold to Manchester United last summer for £85 million. Chelsea are not going to pay that sort of money, which is why Ajax’s Nicolas Tagliafico has been lined up as an alternative due to his price of £22.4 million. However, sources say Leicester missing out on the vast sums that come with Champions League qualification has made a deal for Chilwell much more likely.
The goalkeeping situation is also going to be resolved. With Kepa Arrizabalaga struggling for form and confidence, Chelsea are looking to bring someone else in. Several names have been discussed. Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak is much admired but he has a release clause of £109 million and a salary that has been estimated in some quarters to be £300,000 a week.
Dean Henderson is another possibility, following a second impressive season on loan at Sheffield United. However, his parent club Manchester United will be unwilling to strengthen a direct rival. There is talk of Burnley’s Nick Pope, after he finished runner-up to Ederson of Manchester City for the Golden Glove (with 15 clean sheets) this season, but a move for Ajax’s Andre Onana would be the easiest deal to complete.
The clubs are on good terms following the Ziyech negotiations and Ajax are willing to let him go for £30 million. Ziyech’s presence would help his team-mate of the past four seasons to settle quickly at Chelsea and the playmaker can also talk about his qualities to add to the scouting reports already collated.
There is still a desire to improve the attack. The pursuit of Kai Havertz is well documented. At 21 years old, the Germany international is one of the most highly rated emerging players in Europe. Chelsea are in a strong position to sign him. Other interested parties, such as Bayern and Real Madrid, do not have the funds to buy him this year — the former prioritised a deal for Manchester City’s Leroy Sane instead.
A five-year deal has been proposed and Havertz is keen to move to London. The question is the fee, with Bayer Leverkusen demanding around €90 million (£81.3 million). After Werner cost them £47 million, albeit due to the terms of a release clause, Chelsea are thinking of a much lower price. A deal isn’t as close to being finalised as suggested elsewhere and the process could drag on.
Chelsea still have a lot of money to spend, thanks to the sales of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid and Alvaro Morata to neighbours Atletico. And due to their UEFA transfer ban, they didn’t spend on anyone last summer. But Lampard will have to raise funds by offloading players too and up to six or seven squad members, possibly including Kepa and Barkley, are set to depart. To make room for Chilwell or Tagliafico, Emerson is the man earmarked to make way, with Inter Milan and Juventus possible destinations.
Striker Michy Batshuayi knows he is not part of Lampard’s plans and Chelsea are also prepared to listen to offers for Jorginho, who is another drawing interest from Serie A clubs, most notably Juventus.
One centre-back will need to be sold to make room for someone like Rice. Kurt Zouma was one Chelsea were looking to cash in on, but he started the most games (25) this season out of the four main choices. At 25, though, he could command a good fee and Everton were keen to turn his 2018-19 season’s loan into a permanent move last year.
Chelsea finished 33 points behind champions Liverpool, with runners-up Manchester City 15 ahead of them. Should the club complete all the business they have in mind, they will surely be a lot closer next May.
Tifo’s goalkeeper suggestion: Predrag Rajkovic (Reims)
Sometimes, you spend too much; sometimes you spend on the wrong player.
In Chelsea’s case, they managed both with Kepa. While Levante’s Aitor Fernandez has been the best goalkeeper in Europe’s top five leagues, according to StatsBomb’s post-shot expected goals model, Tifo’s suggestion for Frank Lampard’s side is Predrag Rajkovic. The goalkeeper at French club Reims is fourth in that model, conceding around eight and a half goals fewer than expected.
Rajkovic is in the top 15 per cent for crosses stopped and his distribution is generally short and accurate. Importantly, he’s robust, aggressive, reliable, and has been integral to Reims’ surprisingly good season as they finished fifth in Ligue 1.
He’s a clear upgrade on Kepa and would be considerably less expensive than some other top-tier options.
