After Porto slapped a huge asking price on Eliaquim Mangala, Chelsea have turned their attentions on St-Ettiene defender Kurt Zouma according to reports in the Portuguese media.
Record.xl.pt say that Mangala has a €50 million release clause and his club aren’t willing to negotiate on the price which could end Chelsea’s pursuit for the time being.
Instead they may opt for a younger Frenchman in Zouma, who is only 18 but has already played a fair amount of first team football for St-Ettiene and helped them to a fifth placed finish.
Jose Mourinho is keen to strengthen his defence and bring in more competition for the likes of John Terry, Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Branislav Ivanovic. It’s definitely an area that needs work in my opinion, along with central midfield, and I hope these areas don’t get neglected as we fuss over a forward.
Zouma has already said that he’s flattered to be linked with Chelsea and with a reported valuation of around £10 million he could prove to be a great long-term option. He’d also achieve home-grown status if he was to play for Chelsea over the next three seasons as any player who qualifies has to train in England or Wales 36 months prior to his 21st birthday or at the end of the season in which he turns 21.
However, we have good youngsters in our ranks already and I believe Mourinho would be great for someone like Kenneth Omeruo, who is probably already good enough to be part of our first-team plans and can play at right-back as well as centre-back. We also have Tomas Kalas who fulfils the same sort of role which could save Chelsea a packet in the long run and means they could cash in on Branislav Ivanovic if they wish.
Source: givemesport.com
