Chelsea FC: Evaluating The Premier League’s Free Agents
With the summer transfer window around the corner, all the talk so far has been about spending obscene amounts of money on players locked in under medium to long-term contracts. However, there is more to the transfer market than that. Let’s take a look at the players who will be out of contract at the end of this season and may be able to play a role for Chelsea FC next time round.
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Starting with fellow title challengers (well for a bit) Manchester City, the English duo of James Milner and Micah Richards are currently on course to be out of a job come 1st July. Milner has really come on strong in the last few seasons for City, adding goals and assists to his work-horse attitude. Why City wouldn’t want to keep such an underrated player on their books is beyond me. I guess that’s the consequence of being underrated eh?
At the age of 29 he is in the prime of his career and this could be an interesting acquisition to ponder. Given Chelsea’s performances in the second half of the season, and the fact that he has played in an exciting City team, it would be unfair to say that his style would not be compatible in West London. With Oscar’s future in doubt and Juan Cuadrado not looking the part yet, this could be a very shrewd piece of business to provide depth and support to Hazard and company.
With regard to Micah, sorry it’s not happening.
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Chelsea are unlikely to dip into Arsenal’s remnants either with Mathieu Flamini and Abou Diaby up for grabs. The latter has endured a ‘what if?’ career plagued by injuries while the former no longer has time on his side. Meanwhile, Manchester United’s Tom Cleverley looks set to spark a strong contest for his signature following his rebirth at Aston Villa while James Wilson should do the same unless Louis Van Gaal can convince him that bench-warming has its upsides. Again, though, Mourinho won’t find any of these players very attractive.
Filipe Luis looks set to rejoin his old side this summer, and with Cesar Azpilicueta also linked with a move to Spain full-backs are thought to be high on Mourinho’s agenda. Fortunately Liverpool will be able to provide three. Or two and a half. Ok, two and Kolo Toure. Jon Flanagan and Glen Johnson will become available with the former possibly providing an intriguing option to fill the modern Capital One Cup role.
Flanagan seems a solid if not spectacular player (spectacularly solid perhaps?) and could be a decent choice in the short-term should other options not work out. The fact that he is only 22 keeps the long-run open as well. Unfortunately, though, Flanagan is currently out with a serious knee injury and there is talk that Liverpool may offer him a short-term deal to evaluate his potential when he gets back to full fitness. This Liverpool fan, for one, is eager to see him back at Anfield:
Glen Johnson, meanwhile, will most probably not find himself moving back to Stamford Bridge and the same could be said about Shaun Wright-Phillips, who is one of a host of washed-up top flight footballers set to leave QPR.
The only other player that might be of interest would be Burnley’s Danny Ings. Even though the Blues haven’t been explicitly linked with the English forward, it appears almost certain that he will be joining a top six team. With Didier Drogba becoming one of Chelsea’s free agents, there is need for another striker.
So, Chelsea fans, is there an appetite to see any of these players line up in a blue shirt next season? They are by no means marquee names but does the lack of a price tag make them suitably more attractive in any way? Make the jump over to the Daily Mail article to see the full list of Premier League free agents and sound off in the comments below!
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