Despite Michael Emenalo’s words about Chelsea being in no rush to replace injury casualty Michael Essien, it hasn’t stopped the media to linking us with short-term replacements such as West Ham’s Scott Parker.
According to Hammers’ co-owner David Sullivan, the relegated outfit will be more than happy to loan Parker out for a “substantial fee” and then take him back to Upton Park if/when they get back into the Premier League.
Is it just me, or is this one of the most ridiculous rumours of the summer so far? West Ham reportedly value the 30-year-old at £8m (he isn’t worth that) and it’s believed that they would be happy to loan him to the Blues, where he’ll likely warm the bench for his £70k-a-week and we’re expected to payout around £4m for the pleasure.
We may need to sign someone to step into the midfield void left by Essien, but Parker isn’t the calibre of player that we should be looking at and he’s an inferior talent compared to Ramires and Jon Obi Mikel, who cover the box-to-box and deep midfield roles respectively and some also argue that David Luiz could be used in a defensive midfield role. Also, I do not believe that we need to bring in a like-for-like replacement for Essien, we need pace, creativity and guile, not power.
There’s a variety of good young midfield talents out there, so why sell ourselves short by bringing Parker back? Why not go for Arturo Vidal, Fredy Guarin or Ever Banega etc?
Some argue that Parker is not a bad player to have as backup, which is fair enough, but what sort of message does that send out to someone like Josh McEachran?
He’s still only an 18-year-old and expecting him to step into Essien’s first XI spot would be too much to ask, but we wouldn’t be expecting him to do that. As a member of the first team squad he should be considered adequate backup, he can play a number of midfield roles and will be in good hands surrounded by the likes of Frank Lampard, Ramires, Mikel, Luka Modric (?) etc if he does step into our midfield.
Parker did enough to win the Football Writers Player of the Year following his medium size fish in a very small pond act last season and it was a good season for him personally scoring seven goals in 40 appearances, but things are a little different at the other end of the table. He wasn’t good enough for Chelsea when we originally signed him six years ago and he certainly isn’t what we need now.
The most valuable thing about Parker is his homegrown status, but that is not enough to sway me into thinking that brining him to the club is a good idea and such short term measures wouldn’t inspire me with much confidence.
I don’t think we need him and would be rather underwhelmed to see him back in a Chelsea shirt, but what do you think about the prospect of Scott Parker returning to Stamford Bridge, whether it be on loan or a permanent deal? – Have your say in the comments section below.
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Since Essien is injured,maybe is high time we give Josh a chance to play,is not a crime for a young player like him to play a first team shirt.
Since Essien is injured,maybe is high time we give Josh a chance to play.
lets give josh a chance, at least fabregas, wilshere, nasri, started playing regular first team football before 18 Yrs.
I see Essien’s injury as God’s doing because Mceachran needs a chance to develop in chelsea and i think this is the time. Chelsea should not buy any DM but should use Mikel, Ramires and most importantly McEachran to solve that problem……. Up chelsea !!!
Parker is too old, i tink we need a creative midfielder nd give josh a chance 2 prove himself