Chelsea ‘failed’ with bid for in-form £80m Premier League star in January transfer window
Chelsea reportedly tried to add a big-money defensive addition to their ranks in the January transfer window but failed according to one report.
The Blues have the youngest squad in the Premier League by some distance and haven’t used anyone over the age of 26 this season.
Experience is key, especially in defence where Enzo Maresca‘s side has been caught lacking across the season, given they have the eighth-best defensive record.
A further look into the statistics shows that they have the 11th-best expected goals-against figure meaning they have been somewhat lucky and perhaps should have conceded even more.
That is why we’ve seen plenty of defensive players linked with a move. Wesley Fofana had emerged as a key starter but injuries have derailed his season once again and the club were forced to recall Trevoh Chalobah as a result.
However, a report from the Daily Telegraph has revealed that Chelsea had tried and ‘failed’ to sign the in-form Nottingham Forest defender Murillo early in the January window.
Furthermore, the defender, who had been rated as high as £80million, was not close to departing given that owner Evangelos Marinakis ‘refused to consider’ cashing in on their Brazilian star.
Forest has had the third-best defence in the league this season, which has been largely down to the efforts of Murillo, summer signing Nikola Milenkovic and their goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Chelsea’s defensive issues
In terms of their centre-backs, Chelsea allowed Axel Disasi to leave for Aston Villa on deadline day, deeming the recall of Chalobah to be enough cover.
Benoit Badiashile has been out of action since December but is close to returning to training while Fofana is likely to miss the rest of the season.
That places a lot of emphasis on Levi Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo and Chalobah to carry the load. Maresca has also promoted wonderkid Josh Acheampong to the first-team squad, with the 18-year-old a favourite amongst fans and they will all be needed for their Europa Conference League push as well as their top-four chase and hopeful FA Cup run.
However, only Arijanet Muric has made as many errors as Robert Sanchez this season and summer signing Filip Jorgensen may well be set to take over the number-one spot after starting in the win over West Ham United.
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Experience is needed
Chelsea’s squad planning has taken on a youth-first policy, with the majority of their signings under the age of 21 with a view to them being future stars, or at least growing enough in value to one day be sold for a generous profit.
While that has potential payoffs in the future, Chelsea is still struggling in the here and now and while Colwill has been a key figure this season (and has been integrated into the England set-up) there is no doubt the fact that a senior figure next to him would help sure up their defence.
Thiago Silva was a fantastic servant for Chelsea and while signing an older, more experienced figure would raise the average age, it would also help improve them as a unit.
Targeting Murillo, who is a blossoming player, shouldn’t be the aim given he’s just 22 and lacking in experience overall. One player who has been linked is their former defender Marc Guehi who has grown into a solid Premier League player and England international who could return in the summer.
