Despite winning the Premier League last season, Chelsea appear to be having an explainable difficulty buffering up their squad for next season.
With a little over 15 senior squad members at his disposal, Antonio Conte must be wondering if punishment as regards transfers is what he gets for landing the Blues the league title in his first season in charge. Abrahamovic’s well-known disposition to release transfer funds at will makes this current debacle more surprising.
Maybe though it is down to the current dynamics of nowadays’ transfer market where smaller teams seems to have sworn to frustrate the living daylight out of any big fish before allowing any of their players cross over. Inter’s current hamstrung on Ivan Perisic’s proposed moved to Manchester United is a clear example of such resolution. And how about Barcelona? The Blaugrana’s are discovering that having a €222 million transfer war chest can be a curse as much as a blessing. Every team wants to have a fair share of the Neymar-fall.
For Chelsea’s case though, Barcelona’s Roberto won’t be much of a hard deal to tie since for all his versatility, he still remains leagues away from providing the kind of quality that made the world acknowledge the holy trinity of Sergi Busquets, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta.
Neymar’s move to PSG even buttresses the point that the Blaugrana’s won’t care that much so long you meet your heart desire’s release clause. In Sergi’s case that figure stands at £36 million.
After surprisingly allowing Nemanja Matic to join Mourinho’s band at Old Trafford, Conte is left in a precarious situation where instead of adding quality members to his squad, he is losing a good enough capable hands to stand in.
Granted Bakayoko’s signing may object to that point till you remind yourself of how demanding the league can be plus Champions League football returns to the Bridge this season. With Conte’s squad severely short on back-ups, adding Roberto to the mix is a good way to start.