Chelsea are rumoured to be considering hijacking Manchester United’s move for 22-year-old Swedish centre-half Victor Lindelof.
The young defender has risen to prominence after breaking through with Benfica last season, leading the Portuguese side to another Liga NOS title in his first campaign.
Lindelof was mentioned as a player to watch at the European Championships this past summer, but as Sweden failed to progress from the group stage, he had little opportunity to stand out.
Lindelof has also displayed leadership qualities, anchoring Benfica’s young backline, as the team currently sit at the top of the Portuguese table.
But despite the player’s obvious quality and how enjoyable it would be to pull another Pedro on United, Chelsea do not need to sign Lindelof.
It seems that the heart of the backline is an area that is constantly mentioned as needing strengthening at Chelsea, but I personally do not see it.
If anything this is the area where we have the most depth and variety. At the moment we have the starting back three of Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, and Gary Cahill, supplemented by the now healthy Kurt Zouma, club captain John Terry, veteran defender Branislav Ivanovic, and newly recalled Nathan Ake.
The four substitutes provide a good balance of youth and pace in Zouma and Ake and leadership in Ivanovic and Terry.
That depth at the back will only be increased when Andreas Christensen returns from his incredibly successful loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach.
Even if Ivanovic and Terry were to depart Chelsea would have six central defenders in their squad all with experience playing at a high level. Especially considering the youth and talent of Ake, Zouma, and Christensen, it makes no sense to shell out a large transfer fee on another centre-half.
A back three of the aforementioned names could dominate English football for a decade if given the opportunity to develop correctly. While all three certainly will not be starting next year, it is feasible that one of the group will break the starting line up with the other two not far behind.
With so much depth along the back three, there are other positions where money could be invested to provide cover. With Antonio Conte’s apparent lack of trust in Michy Batshuayi, Chelsea essentially have four senior players for the three attacking positions.
The wingback positions also could do with some cover. Chelsea have so far avoided injury or suspension, but in Marcos Alonso’s or Victor Moses’ absence, there is no clear backup plan at the moment.
Ultimately, Lindelof is a quality player and would make a fine addition for United, something we all hate to see. But given the array of young options Chelsea already own at the position and the lack of depth in other areas, the transfer fee would be best served in other areas.
