Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium by Ank kumar, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Chelsea aren’t short of centre-backs with Antonio Rüdiger, Andreas Christensen, Trevoh Chalobah, Malang Sarr and Thiago Silva at their disposal, but Rudiger could be leaving this summer after failing to agree a new deal, while Christensen, Chalobah and Sarr haven’t commanded a regular starting place.
Chelsea are likely to need another defender who will start most weeks under Thomas Tuchel and Mario Cortegana of Marca says Real Madrid’s Eder Militao might be the man. The 24-year-old had previous interest from Bayern Munich and Manchester United, but it’s Chelsea who have ‘requesting a meeting’ with his agent Ulisses Jorge over a potential move.
Tuchel’s men are third in the Premier League for shots conceded per game (9.4), second for goals conceded (17) and joint-third for clean sheets kept (11). Chelsea are formidable at the back, but Rudiger’s departure would force them to sign a stellar replacement. Unfortunately, Militao might not be attainable as Marca say he’s ‘happy’ to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Brazilian international joined Real on a six-year deal from FC Porto and has gone on to make 75 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals with three assists. Militao is a regular under Carlo Ancelotti, featuring in 35/37 games across the board this season, so he’ll be a hard player to lure away.
Chelsea are making a genuine effort to procure his signature, but Marca make it clear that MIlitao’s ‘priority’ is to Real. He loves the city and wouldn’t change clubs in a World Cup year, so the Blues are probably barking up the wrong tree. Real wouldn’t let such an important player leave either, so there are a lot of factors stopping Chelsea getting their man.
Summary
Chelsea will need to scour the transfer market for a centre-back if Rudiger leaves the club as expected this summer, but Tuchel will have to look beyond Militao to a player they have a chance of signing.
