Graham Potter’s Chelsea have secured one transfer and already setting their sights on another as the Blues boss desperately tries to solve the problems currently plaguing him at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea have agreed a £35m deal for Monaco defender Benoit Badiashile.
The 21-year-old France international is due to undergo a medical before completing a switch to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea boss Graham Potter is keen to strengthen his defensive options in the window and will be given enough cash to bolster his squad still further to make a push for the top four in the second half of the season.
Badiashile is a highly-rated young defender and Chelsea have beaten off stiff competition to agree a deal. A left-footed centre-back in huge demand, the Blues have wanted this type of defender for quite some time.
The Blues also gave a medical to 18-year-old Vasco da Gama midfielder Andrey Santos on Saturday. Potter is desperate to make plenty of additions to a Chelsea side desperately struggling by their own high standards.
The overwhelming majority of both Chelsea’s signings and targets since the Todd Boehly reign of ownership begun have been young players with a view to the club’s future. Since last summer, Wesley Fofana (21), Carney Chukwuemeka (19), Cesare Casadei (19), David Datro Fofana (20) and Gabriel Slonina (18) have all arrived on permanent deals.
With that in mind, not everyone is convinced that the Blues are heading in the right direction with Boehly steering the ship.
Recent transfer dealings by the club were called into question by Liverpool legend Graeme Souness while the Scotsman was on punditry duty for Chelsea’s 1-1 draw away at Nottingham Forest on New Years’ Day.
“He [Kai Havertz] is not going to get enough goals,” Souness bemoaned. “It is madness to sell Timo Werner, Lukaku and then spend £170m on three defenders. Surely you must think, football has never changed.
“The hardest thing to find is goalscorers. Spending £170m on defenders, if you can afford it go out and do it, but the priority for me is you have sold two strikers.
“They weren’t the answer – not long term or short term – but were better than what they have got right now. You can’t tell me they are better off with the firepower they have got now.”
Benoit Badiashile is Stamford Bridge-bound
After a bright start to life at the helm, Potter’s tenure has veered wildly off course in recent weeks and the Blues now languish as low as ninth in the table after Brentford’s contest with Liverpool which saw the Bees leapfrog Chelsea following their 3-1 win over the Reds.
Up next for the West Londoners is the tough task of reigning champions Manchester City in the league at home, before making the trip to the Etihad for an FA Cup third round clash on Sunday.
source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/
