Chelsea have even fewer reasons than before to pursue Fernando Llorente
By George Perry
The transfer rumour mill either missed the part where Chelsea signed Alvaro Morata, or wants us to believe Antonio Conte still despises Michy Batshuayi. The latest Fernando Llorente rumours are even more tiresome than the last time around.
While waiting for his new club to join him in Singapore, Alvaro Morata likely watched his new teammate Michy Batshuayi score a brace against his new favourite whipping boy, Arsenal. Morata may also have seen some re-heated rumours about how his strike partner will be Swansea’s Fernando Llorente.
From his time at Real Madrid, Morata has experience playing alongside a striker in his 30s. However, Llorente is a far cry from Cristiano Ronaldo, and that undercuts the only possible explanation for why Chelsea would again be in for Llorente.
Alvaro Morata filled Chelsea’s need for a starting striker. Against Arsenal, Michy Batshuayi showed once again why he deserves a greater role than he had last season. He opened his pre-season account against the Gunners the same way he ended the Premier League campaign: on two goals. Batshuayi demonstrated the passion, ability and eye for goal that should make him a Conte favourite.
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If Chelsea buy Fernando Llorente, their immediate next move should be selling Michy Batshuayi. There would be no reason for Batshuayi to spend another minute in a club that clearly does not want him, sitting the bench for a manager that harbours some unknown but clearly unquenchable animus.
Even if Antonio Conte thinks that Michy Batshuayi is not up to the task of deputizing Alvaro Morata, the Blues still have Eden Hazard. Hazard showed last year that he is effective as a false-nine. Hazard could play the “lead striker” role alongside Batshuayi if Morata was unavailable.
The only possible upside of buying Llorente is that it would make Tammy Abraham Swansea’s top striker. If it’s time for some 17-dimensional game theory at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea could be buying Fernando Llorente to force Swansea to start Abraham for the entire season. Then, in 2018, Abraham would return to Chelsea to partner Alvaro Morata in a 3-5-2 while Llorente joins the other 30-somethings on the bench.
Through it all, Michy Batshuayi would be a pawn, distracting everyone expecting his big entrance while Abraham waits in the wings. Batshuayi would eventually leave on a free transfer, his value expended at the service of this Machiavellian ploy.
Obviously, this is ridiculous, particularly for a club so thoroughly out-maneuvered by Manchester United and Mino Raiola.
Chelsea still have needs and they have plenty of money left to spend. If the incoming Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa money is weighing so heavily on them, they should meet whatever price Juventus place on Alex Sandro. The Blues need a wing-back far more than they need a 32-year old backup striker.
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Hopefully Chelsea’s recent thrift in the transfer market will protect them (and Batshuayi) from a foolish purchase. Unfortunately, nothing will protect us from the next round of transfer rumours.