Stamford Bridge first team players who are reportedly strongly linked with Blues exits this summer.
Since Jose Mourinho started his second spell at Chelsea, reports have suggested that the Portuguuese coach will be looking to make big changes to his Chelsea squad in order for the Blues to challenge for the Premier League title this summer. Mourinho no longer has a bottom less pit of money to dip into at Chelsea and needs to sell players so that he can make room in his squad for new signings. Here are five Chelsea players who could be on the move this summer.
Branislav Ivanovic
The defender has been a regular fixture of most Chelsea sides for the past few years, whether it be at centre back or right back. When he joined Chelsea, many saw the potential that he had to become a fantastic central defender and although he has his fair share of success at Chelsea, he has made many mistakes. Some believe that Ivanovic hasn’t turned into the player that he was meant to become during his time at Stamford Bridge and Mourinho is considering letting him leave this summer to free up funds for his purchases. Should Ivanovic become available at Chelsea this summer, then there would be no shortage of suitors for his signature.
The defender has been heavily linked with a move to Barcelona, with the Spanish club considering making a move for him and fellow defender David Luiz, who could also leave Stamford Bridge this summer. Although Barcelona won the Spanish League title last season, cracks started to appear in the clubs defence in the absence of club captain Carlos Puyol. The Spaniard is 35 and is currently receiving treatment for a knee injury and although Barcelona expect him to be fit sometime next season, it is doubtful that Puyol will ever reach his best form again, meaning Barcelona are on the look out for a new centre back. They have identified Ivanovic as a possible target because of his possible availability at Chelsea and also his strength and character in defence. Barcelona conceded goals from a lot of set pieces last season and the club see Ivanovic as possible solution to that problem.
Ivanovic is also versatile and can play at right-back if necessary, something Tito Vilanova would like in a new signing. Ivanovic could also form a good partnership with Gerard Pique in Barcelona’s back-four and the two could be together for quite sometime due to both players ages. Ivanovic has also been linked with a move to Napoli, where former Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez has recently become manager. The Spaniard wants to strengthen Napoli’s defence this summer and has identified Ivanovic as a candidate to do just that. The defender could be sold by Chelsea for around £20 million, making him quite expensive for a defender. Also, Ivanovic may want to stay at Stamford Bridge but it looks like he will have to work hard to impress his new manager of face being shown the exit door at Stamford Bridge. Paris St Germain are also thought to be in the running for Ivanovic, with the French Champions hoping to partner Ivanovic with current centre back, Thiago Silva.
John Obi-Mikel
Mikel came to England as one of the most highly rated young central midfielders in the world and many thought that the player would have a big future at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea fought a long and hard battle to sign Mikel, persuading the midfielder to come to Stamford Bridge and putting him off a move to Manchester United. The midfielder wasn’t cheap either and the Blues paid Lyn Oslo £17 million for the player, a lot of money for someone so young. It is fair to say that although Mikel has played in a lot of games for Chelsea, he hasn’t quite lived up to expectation.
He was seen as one of the next great defensive midfielders, the man to replace Claude Makelele in Chelsea’s midfield. Makelele was an important player in Mourinho’s early success at Chelsea, being a defence rock at the heart of the Blues midfield, meaning that creative players like Frank Lampard could get forward and score goals without having to worry about defending. Mikel hasn’t been able to replace the Frenchman and has been in and out of Chelsea’s first team. With Mourinho coming back to the club this summer and wanting to re-enforce the Blues midfield, it looks like Mikel could be on his way out of Stamford Bridge. Their are several possible destinations for Mikel this summer, with the front-runners thought to be Turkish club Galatasaray. It was thought that Mikel was keen to link up with former Chelsea front-man Didier Drogba and reports have suggested that the Ivorian is trying to persuade his former team-mate to join him at the Turkish giants.
However, big spending Monaco have now entered the race to sign Mikel and can offer the player much more money than the Turkish club can. Monaco have had a very busy summer already and have signed highly-rated striker Falaco from Atletico Madrid along with James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho from Porto. The French club have signed all three players on big money moves and are looking to become a force again in French football having recently been promoted to Ligue 1. It appears that their next target is a defensive midfielder and Mikel has been one of the names that has been linked with the French club. It was thought that Galatasaray were close to signing Mikel but now Monaco have come in for the midfielder and have complicated things. Monaco have been linked with many players this summer so it could just be speculation but the French club certainly do have the money to offer Mikel the wages that he desires and will happily offer Chelsea the £16 million asking price. Galatasaray may need to act fast in order to complete the signing of the midfielder. One thing seems almost certain though and that is Mikel’s time at Stamford Bridge is almost up.
Demba Ba
Unlike Mikel, Ba’s stay at Chelsea has been a very short one as the Blues only signed the striker in January for £7 million from Newcastle United. Ba had a reputation of scoring fantastic goals but also being very prolific and was a big factor in Newcastle finishing fifth in the 2011/2012 Premier League season. The striker had long been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge and that was confirmed in January. However, Ba couldn’t hold down a regular place in the Blues starting line-up, battling with Fernando Torres for a starting spot. Many believed that Ba deserved to start more games than he did, with Torres continuing to be disappointing in front of goal. It looks as though Ba won’t get much more of a chance to show Chelsea’s fans what he can do as reports suggest that Jose Mourinho is ready to sell the striker.
The Portuguese coach has already set his sights on signing a top quality striker this summer and it is unlikely that Ba will get much of an opportunity at Chelsea next season if he were to stay at Stamford Bridge. The good thing for Ba is that there are no shortage of suitors for him and West Ham have appeared to be favourites for most of the summer. Hammers boss Sam Allardyce is keen to re-enforce the clubs strike force this summer and has already signed Andy Carroll for £15.5 million from Liverpool. He is now looking for someone to partner Carroll in attack next season or to provide cover to the Englishman and Allardyce has identified Ba as a player he would like to bring to Upton Park. Ba is believed to want to stay in the Premier League and could get a lot of first team football should he make the move to the Hammers.
He could form a very mouth-watering partnership up front with Carroll for next season, which make West Ham a very dangerous proposition. However, recently it has been suggested that big spending Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala is interested in signing Ba and the club certainly have the money to tempt the striker to move to Russia. They could offer Ba higher wages than West Ham could and the striker could end up playing alongside Samuel Eto, the world’s highest paid player. It could come down to how much Ba wants to stay in the Premier League, with striker has having had a very successful time and could benefit from staying in a league that he knows well. The striker was once considered one of the best strikers in Premier League and unfortunately he hasn’t been able to live up to that for Chelsea but would be a good signing for West Ham should they be able to tempt him to Upton Park.
David Luiz
When Chelsea signed Luiz, the defender was considered one of the most gifted young centre backs in Europe having been successful during his time at Portuguese club Benfica. The Brazilian defender can certainly do many brilliant things, including scoring scintillating free-kicks and making incredible long-range passes that Paul Scholes would be proud of. However, during his time in the Premier League, some flaws in his defensive game have been exposed and have cost Chelsea at vital times. Luiz likes to get forward and has a tendency to run with the ball or pass the ball out from the back. This can be a risky ploy and sometimes when Luiz has got forward, he has left the rest of his defenders exposed because he is so far up the pitch.
Jose Mourinho likes to have reliable defenders in his ranks and reports suggest that at the moment he doesn’t rate Luiz as a defender and is willing to let the Brazilian leave the club this summer. There are many potential suitors for Luiz if he does become available and amongst the front runners are French Champions Paris St Germain. The French club are building up to become one of Europe’s best teams but new manager Laurent Blanc believes the clubs defence needs strengthening in order for them to regularly reach the latter stages of the Champions League. Blanc has identified Luiz as a target for PSG this summer and thinks that he can become a better defender by partnering him with international team mate Thiago Silva. PSG are thought to be willing to pay £30 million for the defender but reports suggest that Chelsea are hoping the French club will go higher and pay £35 million for Luiz. Barcelona are also monitoring the situation involving Luiz and have identified the Brazilian as one of many possible defensive targets this summer.
Their is no doubt that Luiz is very good on the ball and that is minimum requirement for any Barcelona player. Most Barcelona attacks are started by the centre backs playing the ball out of defence, which is one of Luiz’s main strengths. Tito Vilanova will think that Luiz will get better with age and will learn from defensive partner Gerard Pique. Barcelona are thought to be plotting a £30 million move for Luiz but it is unknown whether they would be willing to go as high as £35 million for the central defender. Their is no doubt that Luiz has talent and with time should become an excellent defender but it seems that Jose Mourinho isn’t willing to wait to find out and if Chelsea are offered a big enough transfer fee for Luiz, they will more than likely except it and use the money on their own targets.
Victor Moses
Moses is another player who hasn’t been at Stamford Bridge for very long. He signed for Chelsea last year from Wigan and was a highly promising winger during his time with the Latics. Moses was one of the best players at Wigan and many had hoped that the winger would get a decent opportunity to shine at Stamford Bridge. While Moses started quite a few games for Roberto Di Matteo, he has featured less and less for Rafa Benitez and has had to contend with a place on the bench for most games. It now seems that Moses is surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge after only one season with Chelsea. Mourinho is unlikely to give much game time to Moses having recently signed Andre Schurrle, who plays in a similar position to Moses.
Chelsea have been tracking Schurrle for awhile now and finally signed the German last month. It is very likely that Schurrle will get a starting position ahead of Moses next season. Without first team football, Moses is likely to want to move away from Stamford Bridge and a possible destination for the winger could be Everton. His former manager Roberto Martinez recently became Everton boss and the Spaniard is hoping to be re-united with Moses this summer. Moses and Martinez had an excellent relationship during their time together at Wigan Athletic, with Moses becoming a very important player in Martinez side. The Spaniard will hope to use Moses in the same way should he be successful in signing the winger.
Moses would almost certainly be assured of a starting place in the Everton team with Martinez there and could show Chelsea exactly what they would be missing. Moses is still a highly talented player and if he were to get first team football he would almost certainly show it. Despite an offer from Everton being very likely, Moses may fancy one more season at Chelsea just to try and work his way into the Blues first team. If he is able to show Jose Mourinho what he can do, he may just be able to challenge Schurrle for a spot on Chelsea’s wing. He will have to work hard though, as Mourinho is intent on revamping his squad for the forthcoming season.