Wishlist Fábio Coentrão

[JDY 1,290]

Club: Real Madrid

Date of birth: 11th March 1988 (24 years old)

Position: Left back

With the rumours that the club are willing to let Ashley Cole leave for free at the end of the season, no doubt speculation will mount over possible replacements in the summer. Whether Bertrand is ready to step up on a permanent basis still remains a question mark, so would it be wise to sign a top quality fullback, or stick with our current regime of signing top youth prospects, i.e. Lucas Digne. Not forgetting that PvA is still on loan at Vitesse, does a club like Chelsea need better fullbacks than Bertrand and PvA?

On to the player in question, Coentrão is arguably one of the best leftbacks in the world. In my opinion, only 2nd behind Marcelo (unfortunately for him). A very well rounded player, who's role for club and country tends to differ. Often seen marauding down the left for Portugal, displaying great attacking qualities in past international tournaments which hasn't gone unnoticed. In comparison to his role at Madrid, he is given less freedom to roam. Defensively he is superb and is often picked ahead of Marcelo against opponents who are strong down the flanks. He is also versatile and can double up with Marcelo down the left, cover at right fullback, and deputise in central midfield (Quite a bit last season).

The only real drawbacks are that he tends to have trouble with injuries, which could not be so bad if we have Bertrand waiting in the wings. I doubt Madrid would let him leave for anything below £20m, unless the player himself has expressed his desire to leave. Although there has been rumours recently of training ground rifts between the player and staff (according to Marca).

With the likelihood of Cole leaving seemingly high, I think this would be a good move for us and for him. Obviously we don't know who will be manager at the end of the season, but if all goes well and someone like Pep comes in, I think this would be a big possibility.

Thoughts on Coentrão?!

[Spike 12,049]

He cost Madrid €30 Million. I'm not sure if he is actually a viable option but I would gladly sign him.

[JDY 1,290]

He cost Madrid €30 Million. I'm not sure if he is actually a viable option but I would gladly sign him.

Indeed, his price would be the only real sticking point, plus they have no reason to sell at this moment.

But if he get's unhappy at playing second fiddle to Marcelo then who knows.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Great player but real wont sell plus we should give bertrand a chance to shine next season.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Im sure Coentrao would join us and Real woukd sell as he wasnt 'that' at Rm. He seems to play much better for Portugal than Rm, maybe he doesnt suit them. Anything in range of 25mio would let him go, but we should give some chance to Ryan.

[Corner 456]

Well, if Cole leaves during the summer we're going to have to sign another left-back. I don't really think Bertrand is ready to be our first-choice left-back but I would happy take Coentrao and Bertrand as his back-up.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Would love him but...we're going to lose a lot of money this year (no C.L., high transfer costs already, amortization of past transfers, etc...) and you can get cheaper good players at LB than you can at our other need positions (striker or two, central midfield). We got Azpilecueta for 7M pounds. Jordi Alba cost about the same for Barca. The other thing to consider is that with Lampard, Cole, and Sturridge all looking likely to leave, Chelsea are going to be able to buy almost exclusively British players.I don't think Chelsea will ever hand the job over to Bertrand straight out, but they could do something like buying Luke Shaw and letting the two of them compete.

And just for fun, here is a whoscored.com article on some interesting young fullbacks. http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/yp0yhnuaceyeyvy7jtiviw/Show/Hot-Prospect-Scout-Five-Top-Young-Full-Backs

[AndersonBLUE 819]

As if we are all really worried on how much players cost. Pocket money for Abrom, his yacht cost 500million.

[Rmpr 8,977]

@TorontoChelsea, there are some good English players out there.

We could buy Baines and Walcott for LB and Att. We could even buy Wilshere just for fun!

OR.....We could keep Lampard and Cole FFS!

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

He already rejected us last summer to go to Madrid when AVB/the board tried signing him from Benfica (despite us offering the full release clause - 30 million euros cahs only - which was more than Madrid wanted to pay - 20 odd million euros plus Ezequiel Garay - which is why Benfica's board pushed for him to come here instead of Madrid). Also he looks extremely suspect defending tbh so no thanks. Hes great going forward though but thats because hes played a lot as a winger at Rio Ave due to being poor defensively. Basically hes the slightly better LB version of Bosingwa tbh. I'd rather we keep Cole or go for Marcelo (who according to Cole is the best LB in the world). Or Baines who is also a great LB.

Also his hair is a fucking mess, if he was to come here he'd have to sort that out. Fecking hippie.

[Stingray 9,441]

As if we are all really worried on how much players cost. Pocket money for Abrom, his yacht cost 500million.

Well, there is just this litle detal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Financial_Fair_Play_Regulations

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

Well, there is just this litle detal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Financial_Fair_Play_Regulations

FFP is ridiculous imo. Obviously someone whos going to pour loads of money into a club will realize the club will need to make money to pay off their debts. I would honestly love to meet Michel Platini, compliment him on how great a player he was then kick him in the nuts for passing this rule.

[Stingray 9,441]

FFP is ridiculous imo. Obviously someone whos going to pour loads of money into a club will realize the club will need to make money to pay off their debts. I would honestly love to meet Michel Platini, compliment him on how great a player he was then kick him in the nuts for passing this rule.

Still, we now have a different way of doing things. Facts remain.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

@TorontoChelsea, there are some good English players out there.

We could buy Baines and Walcott for LB and Att. We could even buy Wilshere just for fun!

OR.....We could keep Lampard and Cole FFS!

It's definitely not a viable option to keep Cole imo. We've made the mistake of keeping players past their prime before (Essien), let's not do it again.

[Spike 12,049]

The only reason he didn't join was because he wasn't sure how well he would take to learning English.

[JDY 1,290]

Some papers linking him with us now. Not surprised.

[Muzchap 8,966]

I would prefer Baines cheaper and awesome crosser - him and Hazard on the left would be deadly

[Spike 12,049]

I would prefer Baines cheaper and awesome crosser - him and Hazard on the left would be deadly

I reckon he'd be even more expensive! English + Cap for England + Play for his childhood club + Everton don't want to sell = Expensive as all hell!