Centre Back Chatter - Tomori, Rudiger, Christensen, Gimenez, Alaba, Guehi?
Diving into the Centre Back decisions, potential moves, arrivals, and contract situations
Frank Lampard has some big decisions to make over the next couple of transfer windows, and one of the main areas he is already looking at is at centre back.
The Blues boss addressed the attacking situation this summer by bringing in a host of new creative players such as Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz, whilst also addressing finesse with players like Timo Werner.
However, the focus will switch to back again in the next couple of windows, with some big decisions to be made.
Fikayo Tomori is now very likely to go out on loan this January, with a number of teams including Newcastle registering an interest in the out of favour 22-year old.
Antonio Rudiger also has a lot of interest from abroad, with AC Milan amongst a number of teams looking to sign him as early as January. He could go in January, but this is probably more likely to be a move to happen in the summer.
Andreas Christensen is another player who looks likely to leave in the summer, the 24-year old has a contract until 2022, and there are no plans for Chelsea to renew it as it stands.
Rudiger has the same contract, but he could sign an extension and go on a loan-to-buy move, with Chelsea looking at that as being the best way to get a good eventual fee for him.
So with those two both looking likely to go in the summer, and Tomori’s future being entirely up in the air, Lampard will look at bringing in 2 or 3 more centre backs over the next couple of seasons, baring in mind Thiago Silva’s situation as well.
The veteran Brazilian international has a contract until this summer that can be extended, but it is not yet clear whether this will happen yet. So he has two seasons here at the most.
Chelsea are interested in both David Alaba from Bayern Munich, and Jose Gimenez from Atletico Madrid, amongst other targets.
Alaba is looking unlikely to sign a new Bayern contract and will be free to discuss his next move with other clubs this January, and then join them on a free in the summer. Chelsea are expected to be one of the clubs he talks with next month.
I’d see him as more of a Silva replacement due to his style of play.
Then Gimenez has a release clause of over £100 million. However, we know he is keen on a move, having recently liked a tweet linking him to Chelsea.
So you’d expect something to be done there in terms of a deal between the two if the Uruguayan international really wants the move.
There is a VERY small chance this could be done in January, depending on Rudiger and Christensen, but the summer looks more possible.
Finally, As reported by The Athletic this week, Chelsea are watching closely the progress of Marc Guehi whilst on loan at Swansea, and they are seriously considering whether to make him the next academy player to become part of the first-team squad.
He would likely finish his loan contract with Swansea until the end of this season. However, there is a chance of an early recall if Chelsea sell Rudiger or Christensen, as well as letting Tomori go on loan.