Fofana, James, Cucurella, Koulibali, Chillwell, Chalobah…. - What Do Chelsea Intend To Do With All These Defenders?
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If I wasn’t holding my phone when a notification from the trusted Fabrizio Romano read, “Chelsea and RB Leipzig are close to agreeing a deal worth €90M for defender Josko Gvardiol” I would have sworn to anyone telling me about it was pulling my legs.
I didn’t even believe at first and so I just had to open the notification fully and verify it was Fabrizio himself that posted. I didn’t know how to feel at first. Whether to feel excited, surprised or angry. Guess I was just frustrated.🤧
I don’t watch the player and from what I’ve read he’s a very good defender but just after signing Fofana for €70M, I initially didn’t understand why we would need to spend so much on another defender.
The deal though if completed will see the defender spend the remainder of the season at Leipzig and then he moves to his new home Chelsea in 2023.
Chelsea few hours ago confirmed the signing of Wesley Fofana from Leicester City after offering a very good payment structure and refusing to break the transfer record for the world’s most expensive defender.
Fofana described his move to Chelsea as a dream come true and hopes to follow in the footsteps of the legend Drogba. This deal, I am particularly happy about.
It might be true Chelsea’s spending so much on defenders but after losing Rudiger and Christensen to Real Madrid and Barcelona, who could blame them. On top of that, the club has had to go through a change in ownership and are still without a director of football.
Co-owner Todd Boehly is the one managing all transfers and he’s done a good job although he has overpaid for some.
After the signing of Fofana Chelsea have captain Azpi ,Chalobah, James, Chillwell, Cucurella, Koulibaly, Silva, Fofana, etc. Ethan Ampadu and Colwill could return from loan for next season and that’s so much defensive players.
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Thiago Silva is old and will be 39 next year and so for him you would think his replacement is Fofana but it looks like that’s not the case.
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Josko Gvardiol looks set to be the one who replaces Thiago Silva when he eventually leaves. It certainly from outside looks like a waste when the money could be used to purchase a forward or midfielder but instead, defenders are still being bought.
However, when you look at it rationally it seems a fairly smart move from the club replacing Silva before next season.
The question still remains what Chelsea will do with all these defenders? In a back 3 they’ll all get their chances but should Tuchel switch to a back 4, there’ll be some unhappy defenders.
Reece looks to have nailed a spot, Koulibaly has done same and Fofana might do same in the right center back position. With a fully fit Chillwell we’ll see if he starts ahead of Cucurella or not.
Just to predict, James would be rwb, Fofana rcb, Thiago Silva cab, Koulibaly lcb, Cucurella lwb.
Ethan Ampadu another Chelsea defender is close to leaving on loan but with an option to buy and Levi Colwill is already on loan with Brighton. Chelsea have so many defenders now that I’m waiting to see what Tuchel and the new ownership are looking to implement.
There was a joke on Chelsea twitter when the news broke that Tuchel is trying to build if we can’t score, you won’t score too policy after gathering some of the world’s best defenders.😂
It’s not far from the truth especially with so many inconsistent forwards except Sterling. Let’s see if the Aubemayang, Gordon and Zaha deals will be fruitful.
Let’s get interactive in the comments.
Thank you.
SteemCor07 - Lifestyle Curation Team
Thank you.
When you think about the lineup (and that Tuchel’s will probably stick with a back 5), it probably isn’t that bad.
Chilwell will only play left back but his fitness issues mean that Cucarella will also play there. Cucarella and Koulibaly can both play left centre back and at the moment, Silva in the middle although Koulibaly might play there too. Then right centre back is likely Fofana but Azpilicieta and James have also played there with Right wing back between James and Loftus-Cheek. Gvardiol is a decent signing and like you say, will replace Silva.
Given the crazy schedule of 2 games per week until the World Cup, they’re going to need all of these options and after mapping it out like that, it feels like they’ve got it right. Just a shame that the rest of the team is shit 🤣