Chelsea ready to rival Man United for €40m sensation in early gift to Liam Rosenior
Will he choose Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford?
Chelsea are preparing to rival Manchester United for the potential transfer of Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet.
According to latest reports, Jacquet, the talented young centre-back at Ligue 1 side Rennes, is one of the names being considered by the Blues as they look to strengthen Liam Rosenior’s back line.
Rosenior has just recently taken over as Chelsea manager after the exit of Enzo Maresca, and it seems some investment is needed in this defence.
Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo haven’t entirely convincing at Chelsea in recent times, while Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill have had injury problems, so aside from an Apple voucher on Eneba, a new CB signing could be the perfect welcome gift for Rosenior.
Chelsea keep on conceding goals, but how do they fix it?
Chelsea were beaten 3-2 at home to Arsenal in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday evening, and in truth it could have been more for the visitors.
Rosenior will surely be concerned by his defence, but also by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, who was unconvincing on Arsenal’s first two goals in particular.
In total, Chelsea have conceded 24 Premier League goals so far this season, which is not actually too bad, with others such as Liverpool, Manchester United, and Newcastle all conceding more.
That perhaps explains why Man Utd are also keen on Jacquet, with our information recently being that they were leading the race for the Frenchman’s signature.
The 20-year-old would surely find a move to Stamford Bridge appealing, though, due to Chelsea’s policy of recruiting and developing the best young players in world football.
CFC would likely guarantee Jacquet a decent amount of playing time and trust him to grow into a key player for them in the long term.
United would probably also be able to build around him to a certain extent, but one imagines uncertainty over the club’s plans for a new permanent manager will make it a bit trickier to lure the best talents in for the time being.
Overall, even if Chelsea haven’t had the best season, their project looks a bit more coherent and closer to blossoming after the years of work and investment put into it.
Interesting take on Jacquet as a potential solution for Chelsea's defensive fragility. The stat about 24 PL goals conceded isn't terrible on paper, but the eye test from that Arsenal match says otherwise. What stands out is how much clearer Chelsea's project looks compared to United right now, especially with the managerial uncertainity at Old Trafford which probbaly makes it tougher to land top younf prospects.