Rumoured Mehdi Benatia

[iseah100 5,612]

At a top club you preferably want 4 good CBs. We had Terry, Cahill, Kalas and Luiz to play at CB last season most of the time. Ivanovic can play there but hes going to be used as RB almost 9 times out of 10 by Mourinho so now that Luiz is gone I'd say yes a CB could be useful. Omeruo and Zouma will almost definitely be loaned out this season so why are we mentioning them for next season? Benatia has improved a lot but still not sure about paying 35m for him.

£35m for a 27 year old CB that will primarily be a backup would just be plain stupid.

[OneMoSalah 8,783]

£35m for a 27 year old CB that will primarily be a backup would just be plain stupid.

Nobody said he would be a backup. He could walk into the team for all we know. We will need another CB though because Zouma will be loaned out to keep his development/progression or whatever you want to call it going well and Omeruo is in and out of a Middlesborough team so hes not ready to play for Chelsea yet.

[iseah100 5,612]

Nobody said he would be a backup. He could walk into the team for all we know. We will need another CB though because Zouma will be loaned out to keep his development/progression or whatever you want to call it going well and Omeruo is in and out of a Middlesborough team so hes not ready to play for Chelsea yet.

Mou loves Terry and Cahill. He won't replace them.

[OneMoSalah 8,783]

Mou loves Terry and Cahill. He won't replace them.

But he will replace Luiz and it won't be with Zouma or Omeruo or any other young CB we have I bet you that.

Mourinho isn't scared to drop John Terry or Gary Cahill lol even if they have had a very good season together, if he thinks he can improve the team he will, he will want another CB to compete with Cahill, Terry and Kalas.

Competition for places can increase performances, look at Oscar as a #10 when Mourinho first came back to the club and said he's his number 10 and Mata must work to get that position back/in the team in comparison to after January when Mata left and he was the only real #10 here.

[The Skipper 20,593]

But he will replace Luiz and it won't be with Zouma or Omeruo or any other young CB we have I bet you that.

Mourinho isn't scared to drop John Terry or Gary Cahill lol even if they have had a very good season together, if he thinks he can improve the team he will, he will want another CB to compete with Cahill, Terry and Kalas.

Competition for places can increase performances, look at Oscar as a #10 when Mourinho first came back to the club and said he's his number 10 and Mata must work to get that position back/in the team in comparison to after January when Mata left and he was the only real #10 here.

Doesn't really make sense to me either, especially if we sign a left back so Azpi can go back to his natural position.

We have JT, Cahill, Ivanovic, Zouma, Kalas, Omeruo and Christensen. Signing a CB this season would make no sense whatsoever.

Maybe after next season when JT finally leaves... That's the only way a CB signing would make sense.

Right now in defence we have (if we sign a new LB):

RB: Azpi, Ivan, Kalas, Omeruo

LB: New LB, Azpi, Bertrand/PVA

CB: JT, Cahill, Ivanovic, Zouma, Kalas, Omeruo & Christensen at a push.

Signing a CB makes 0 sense.

[LondonPride1905 236]

But he will replace Luiz and it won't be with Zouma or Omeruo or any other young CB we have I bet you that.

Mourinho isn't scared to drop John Terry or Gary Cahill lol even if they have had a very good season together, if he thinks he can improve the team he will, he will want another CB to compete with Cahill, Terry and Kalas.

Competition for places can increase performances, look at Oscar as a #10 when Mourinho first came back to the club and said he's his number 10 and Mata must work to get that position back/in the team in comparison to after January when Mata left and he was the only real #10 here.

So let me get this straight. We sell David and laugh at the 50 million being quoted, because we see it as a gigantic fee. But we are going to give 35 million for Benatia. It shakes me inside, how will it happen.

[OneMoSalah 8,783]

Doesn't really make sense to me either, especially if we sign a left back so Azpi can go back to his natural position.

We have JT, Cahill, Ivanovic, Zouma, Kalas, Omeruo and Christensen. Signing a CB this season would make no sense whatsoever.

Maybe after next season when JT finally leaves... That's the only way a CB signing would make sense.

Right now in defence we have (if we sign a new LB):

RB: Azpi, Ivan, Kalas, Omeruo

LB: New LB, Azpi, Bertrand/PVA

CB: JT, Cahill, Ivanovic, Zouma, Kalas, Omeruo & Christensen at a push.

Signing a CB makes 0 sense.

Do you really think Zouma and Omeruo are going to be at the club next season? Zouma will probably be loaned out and Omeruo definitely will be I think. Christensen will keep playing with the u21s leaving us with JT, Cahill, Kalas and Ivanovic (who Mourinho sees as a RB more than a CB given he basically played every game this season bar 3 of them in that position) so I think he will go after a CB even though Kalas had a very good debut vs Liverpool.

It wouldn't make sense for Mourinho to not go after a CB to replace Luiz given that the 3 others (Zouma, Omeruo and Christensen) are all very inexperienced players under the age of 21 with the possibility that 2 of them will be loaned out.

Theres rumors of us trying to get Varane from Real so I think a CB is going to be bought this summer for sure, might not be Varane, could be Benatia or maybe Mangala who knows.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Do you really think Zouma and Omeruo are going to be at the club next season? Zouma will probably be loaned out and Omeruo definitely will be I think. Christensen will keep playing with the u21s leaving us with JT, Cahill, Kalas and Ivanovic (who Mourinho sees as a RB more than a CB given he basically played every game this season bar 3 of them in that position) so I think he will go after a CB even though Kalas had a very good debut vs Liverpool.

It wouldn't make sense for Mourinho to not go after a CB to replace Luiz given that the 3 others (Zouma, Omeruo and Christensen) are all very inexperienced players under the age of 21 with the possibility that 2 of them will be loaned out.

Theres rumors of us trying to get Varane from Real so I think a CB is going to be bought this summer for sure, might not be Varane, could be Benatia or maybe Mangala who knows.

How many times did Luiz play at CB this season? Barely did, so he doesn't need replacing in that sense. We can give those 10 odd games that Luiz had at CB to Ivanovic or even Kalas. How are you so certain will Zouma be loaned out? Zouma is just as experienced as Kalas, probably even more considering he played in a stronger league. I can easily see him coming here as 4th choice CB.

Having 3 experienced CBs (JT, Cahill & Ivan) and one or two understudies (Kalas & Zouma) is enough. I wouldn't like to see us blow big money on a CB until next season which will probably be JTs last season at the top.

It honestly does not make sense to get a new CB right now when we've got other priorities (ST, CM, LB).

[True_Blue1403 3]

@ChelsTransfer: Chelsea have sensationally hijacked #MCFC's move for #Roma star Mehdi Benatia after offering £18m plus striker Romelu Lukaku (Express) #CFC

[zolayes 14,489]

Express print more transfer rumours than anyone else ,,, check their full list sometime

[DidkoDrogbata 7]

@ChelsTransfer: Chelsea have sensationally hijacked #MCFC's move for #Roma star Mehdi Benatia after offering £18m plus striker Romelu Lukaku (Express) #CFC

Lol, that's insane. Good thing it's probably not true.

[nyikolajevics 2,595]

Absolutely ridiculous.. Benati + 18M = Lukaku would be more legit.

Benatia is very good but the last thing we need is another CB.. We have Terry, Cahill, Iva(who performs better as a CB IMO), Zouma, Kalas, Omeruo etc.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Knowing City is limited by UEFA to only €60m in spending, this may be Mourinho trying to force City's hand and see if they are going to do everything to sign Benatia, even some €30m offer. Like this, they will be limited to only one or two players in this transfer window.

Not the best theory you know, but I gave it a shot. We all know Mourinho is a transfer market shark.

[Fernando 6,484]

@ChelsTransfer: Chelsea have sensationally hijacked #MCFC's move for #Roma star Mehdi Benatia after offering £18m plus striker Romelu Lukaku (Express) #CFC

18 million plus Lukaku?

Does not seems enough, we can add Courtois and Hazard there as well.

Is that good enough?

[LDN Blue 7,903]

It's good to see that everyone actually agrees that we should be using our own resources within the club as opposed to buying a new one! Shows how far we've come, we're no longer interested in marquees because everyone wants to see us make our own.. Just nice to read.

[jmarlow 458]

Doesn't really make sense to me either, especially if we sign a left back so Azpi can go back to his natural position.

We have JT, Cahill, Ivanovic, Zouma, Kalas, Omeruo and Christensen. Signing a CB this season would make no sense whatsoever.

Maybe after next season when JT finally leaves... That's the only way a CB signing would make sense.

Right now in defence we have (if we sign a new LB):

RB: Azpi, Ivan, Kalas, Omeruo

LB: New LB, Azpi, Bertrand/PVA

CB: JT, Cahill, Ivanovic, Zouma, Kalas, Omeruo & Christensen at a push.

Signing a CB makes 0 sense.

how do you know that Kalas, Omeruo & Christensen wont get loaned out? because that is what most likely will happen if we sign another CB.

[Berke 58]

But he will replace Luiz and it won't be with Zouma or Omeruo or any other young CB we have I bet you that.

Mourinho isn't scared to drop John Terry or Gary Cahill lol even if they have had a very good season together, if he thinks he can improve the team he will, he will want another CB to compete with Cahill, Terry and Kalas.

Competition for places can increase performances, look at Oscar as a #10 when Mourinho first came back to the club and said he's his number 10 and Mata must work to get that position back/in the team in comparison to after January when Mata left and he was the only real #10 here.

Very good points rasied

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Do you really think Zouma and Omeruo are going to be at the club next season? Zouma will probably be loaned out and Omeruo definitely will be I think. Christensen will keep playing with the u21s leaving us with JT, Cahill, Kalas and Ivanovic (who Mourinho sees as a RB more than a CB given he basically played every game this season bar 3 of them in that position) so I think he will go after a CB even though Kalas had a very good debut vs Liverpool.

It wouldn't make sense for Mourinho to not go after a CB to replace Luiz given that the 3 others (Zouma, Omeruo and Christensen) are all very inexperienced players under the age of 21 with the possibility that 2 of them will be loaned out.

Theres rumors of us trying to get Varane from Real so I think a CB is going to be bought this summer for sure, might not be Varane, could be Benatia or maybe Mangala who knows.

I have a sneaking suspicion Omeruo will be at the club next year, most likely as a back up right back/centre back but I can't see him being loaned out. He has grown in stature at the club in a very short time.