Chelsea ponder cut-price bid for Argentine
Chelsea are constantly forced to fend off criticism that they have an aging squad and are reliant on a number of players than are entering the twilight years of their career - calls that inevitably become louder during periods when results get worse - but Roman Abramovich appears to be taking action.
Fresh from splashing out £21 million on Benfica defender David Luiz (23) and £50 million on Liverpool striker Fernando Torres (27), the Daily Mirror say that the Russian oligarch plans to complete work on the Blues' new spine by signing highly regarded Palermo playmaker Javier Pastore this summer.
The 21-year-old is already the heartbeat of the Serie A top-half regulars despite his young age, made three appearances off the bench for Argentina at last year's World Cup and has been linked with the likes of Barcelona having been cited by many as a future Ballon d'Or winner.
One of his biggest admirers and chief operator of the Pastore hype machine is Rosanero president Maurizio Zamparini, one of Italian football's most outspoken figures, who is fully aware that his star man is destined for bigger and better things and is eagerly talking up his price to get the best deal for his club.
The latest sum mentioned by the patron of the Sicilian side was over £60 million, however it is suggested that Chelsea are confident that they can land the attacking midfielder for around half that amount, with Carlo Ancelotti reportedly identifying him as the ideal man to get goalless Torres firing.
Zamparini claims to have already started looking for a replacement, such is his certainty that Pastore will be off, and given Palermo's track record for finding gems in untapped markets, you wouldn't bet against them making a profit on his successor either.
Will Chelsea enter negotiations as champions? They are [6.6] to finish first...
Published: 24 Mar 2011
sammie (March 24, 2011 8:51 AM) said:
lampard has to be sold or perhaps relief of his duties for either of pastore or hamsik to come to Chelsea and get a starting shirt.possible replacements.neymar for malouda,hazard for anelka,pastore/hamsik for lampard,vanderweil for bosingwa,aguero for dider drogba.Ferreira should go,Mikel should also go,bring in subotic and sell Alex or terry,bring in contrao and sell Ashley cole to Madrid for for 25m pounds.chelsea will do exploit under vanbastein or villas boas,Carlo shoulg go..
Chelsea4ever (March 24, 2011 9:03 AM) said:
(Chelsea Future Starting Line-up)
Cech
Ivanovic, David Luiz, Terry, Cole
Ramires, Essien, Sneijder
Sanchez,Torres,Neymar
(Bench)
Turnbull
Van Der Wiel, Alex, Bruma, Van Aanholt
Lampard, Mikel, Yuri Zhirkov
Aguero, Lukaku or Drogba, Sturridge
(Summer Clearance)
Bosingwa
Ferreira
Benayoun
Malouda
Kalou
Anelka
Taiye Taiwo (March 24, 2011 9:19 AM) said:
Chelsea realy need a talented&very young mildfielder to reviv torres carrier&one goalkeeper as a cover up 4cech.(de gear,nuer )i wil go 4 hamsik,hazad and sanches.malouda,anelka,bosiguwa,ferriera and hilario should be show exist door.we are conquire europe this season,up chelsea
Faruq (March 24, 2011 9:35 AM) said:
4 me anelka,malouda,ferriera,bosingwa shuld moved on den neymar/aguero,sanchez/pastore,van der weil/ramos, & a rely 2nd choice goalkeeper so I think wit dis squad we will conquer europe.
Betfair Football (March 24, 2011 10:03 AM) said:
Thanks for the comments. I think it's fair to say from the responses so far that Chelsea supporters are hoping their club will be busy this summer!
Olalemi samuel (March 24, 2011 10:10 AM) said:
pls let chelsea show d following players d exit door dis summer'anelka,bosingwa,malouda,mikel u could also sel drogba so dat Torres 'll get enough chance 2prov himself,ppl 2com are sanches,nyhema,hamsik or ganso or pastor.blues 4lyf.
Simon Amstell (March 24, 2011 10:36 AM) said:
Some people commenting have no loyalty to players who have not just been, and continue to be great servants to the club but are club legends. So called "fans" who write down there dream teams on articles like this and change virtually the whole squad. As good as some of the players mentioned are they would all need to adapt to premier league football. This isn't Fifa 11, if its as easy as you all seem to think everyone would be a manager.
Chelseaphan (March 24, 2011 11:28 AM) said:
I want Ganso instead of Pastore, Ganso has physical stregth and has pace which is something that Pastore lacks.
Senator Yusuf Adebayo (March 24, 2011 2:23 PM) said:
As for me, chelsea should show Turnbull, Hilario, Bosingwa, Mikel, Malouda, Drogba, Sturridge the exit door and should replace Turnbull with Begovic, Hilario-Rhys Taylor, Bosingwa-Van der wiel, Mikel-Ganso/Hamsik, Malouda-Hazard, Sanchez Drogba-Lukaku, Sturridge-Milan Lalkovic(reserve team). We should also keep hold of Zhirkov, Bruma, van aanholt, Mceachran and promote Jacob mellis and Conor Clifford. I think with this squad, we can conquer europe.
Sean *without an H* (March 24, 2011 4:01 PM) said:
Thank you Simon, these people seem to forget that Lampard has been here at Chelsea since forever. He's our engine, we went through a disastrous two months while Lampard was out, he's now back and it looks like we are back to our winning ways. Lampard could guarantee us 20/per season from a midfield position. WE MUST SHOW SOME RESPECT FOR FRANKIE. Terry is a home grown world class defender, we pride ourselves with him, he's our captain and i don't think he'll ever leave Chelsea.
Ryan (March 24, 2011 4:15 PM) said:
Well said Simon Amstell, you and chelseaphan with the only sensible comments.
Betfair Football (March 24, 2011 4:37 PM) said:
We'd be inclined to agree with the more cautious commenters. Even if you feel the whole team needs an overhaul, you are still likely to be better off making two/three changes at a time rather than buying in a whole new squad at once. Even at a club like Man City, who have changed nearly everyone since the takeover, it was a gradual process.
Though Torres hasn't scored, the January idea of bringing in two new guys to freshen things up but in Torres' case keeping the guy he is replacing (if the Drogba exit rumours are to be believed) around until the next window to safeguard against the move backfiring is quite effective, though obviously making big buys in January isn't ideal because of the price hike.
We appreciate the wide response though Chelsea fans, it's been great to hear from a fair few of you on the site.
Alex (March 25, 2011 4:27 AM) said:
I think Chelsea needs one more Brazilian by the name of Neymar who will add some potent, flavor and flare to our aging and out of tune front line and a proven goal scorer by the name of Sanchez to pair up front with either Drogba or Torres in a 4-3-3 formation rotation. I also think if your gonna spend big u need 2 bring in quality which is tested and proven in all arenas.The creative midfielder who Im talkin about is Wesley Sneijder who will share responsibilities with Frank Lampard making Chelsea a force 2 b reckoned with, with Essien and Ramires in the midfield with our ever dominant backline of Ivanovic,Luiz,Terry and Cole.
Magic Finger (March 25, 2011 1:36 PM) said:
Every one has said his own opinion, we cannot just wake up one day and let down great players like D. Drogba, check since the arrival of that guy in chelsea what he achive for the club, i thimk we fans should show some respect to players like Nicolas, Frank Lampard, and Drogba, is true we need to make some changes in our club but we have to do it in a respective way, we need to let go Maluda, Kaluo, Anilka, Ferera, Hilario, mikel and bonsinkwa for them to experience a new life in other league, what we need is Wesley Sneijder. Ganso, Sanchez and Neiyma, our Defence is very strong and ok for now we need Wesley Sneijder TO partner with lampard, while Remires with Essien, then bring in Sanches as a winger to play up from with Drogba, torres and Aguero. you see that Chelsea FC will become the Best and Stong team so far in the world and with that it will make a history.God bless all Chelsea Players, Staffs and Fans Allover the world.