Chelsea told to sign match winners and ditch Kovacic and Barcelona open door to £75 million perfect deal
Barcelona chief Jordi Mestre has claimed the Champions League semi-finalists are not in for Ajax star Matthijs de Ligt just yet, handing Chelsea a boost in their pursuit.
The talented defender has become one of the most sought after talents in world football after helping the Dutch giants reach the Semi-Finals of the Champions League, and he is expected to leave Ajax at the end of the season
Boss Maurizio Sarri knows he needs to spend big money in the summer to even get us challenging for the Premier League title, especially as they could lose star man Eden Hazard in the summer window.
[the_ad id=”164″]And we have been handed a possible boost in our chase for De Ligt after Mastre admitted that they are not after the Dutchman.
“I don’t know why they’re saying this because [De Ligt] hasn’t signed,” he said on the Daily Express.
“[Gerard] Pique is evidently one of the best central defenders in the world, if not the best.
“After him, we have players like [Clement] Lenglet, [Samuel] Umtiti and we’ve signed a very young player in [Jean-Clair] Todibo.
“The defenders we already have are of the highest level. In De Ligt’s case, we’ll speak with the sporting director at the end of the season and we’ll speak not about De Ligt, but about what they say.”
Meanwhile, Tim Sherwood has told Maurizio Sarri to forget about signing Mateo Kovacic and sign players that will help us win matches.
We are currently banned from registering new players for the next two transfer windows – this summer and January 2020 – after breaching rules relating to the signings of teenage players, but are battles to overturn or postpone the decision.
But Sherwood told Premier League Productions: “Who’s going to be there next year? Is Eden Hazard? [Gonzalo] Higuain’s not going to be there. Kovacic? There’s so many uncertainties with Chelsea. It’s exciting times.
“I think what they need to do, especially with the embargo – I know they’re going to appeal it but as it stands they get two blocks, they cannot buy players in the next two windows. They’re going to have to find a different way.
“They’ve got the best academy in the Premier League bar none. Them kids are ready to play.
“Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori, the two boys on loan with Frank Lampard at Derby, they’re ready to dip their toe and come in.
“Do not block up the pathway with average players like Kovacic and people like that, don’t do that.
“Go and spend your money on the make-the-difference player, like a Van Dijk what Liverpool did.
“I think it will be very positive if they go that way. At least they’d have an identity going forward, it’s a complete contrast to what they’ve done over the last 10 to 15 years.”
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Bang on! We have too many miefielders that all perform much the same way . Kovacic , barkly , drinkwater , jorginho ( box to box is untrue) all are defensive midfielders . They rarely score and can not perform better than kante in the role of defensive midfielder anyway. I would get rid of these average players and get more attacking minded midfielders paired with Kante. Plus ball watcher david luis has to go . How he gets away wity mistake after mistake in defence amazes me . He ball watches and goes missing and always loses his man . Every time you see he is out if position or strolling back. Sarri loves him for a beautiful pass now and then but what good is one beautiful pass and a goal if you concede 2-3 the other end for playing him . He always turns to those around him and tries to blame them when the goalscorer is right next to him . He should be played in midfield at best but he disturbs the rythmn and their are better players in this position .