Chelsea has more losers than winners in a Daniele Rugani transfer

Chelsea seems adamant in their pursuit of Daniele Rugani. In a stacked position, the Blues will have more losers than winners in the transfer saga.

Chelsea’s rumored interest in a new center back has passed the threshold between monitoring and bidding. The Blues have supposedly bid £35 million for Juventus center back Daniele Rugani.

Rugani is a great center back and most teams in the world would be happy to have him. He supposedly wants out of Juventus due to a lack of playing time, something Chelsea seems ready to guarantee.

But the Blues are stacked at center back. Even signing just one new one will have major knock off effects. Any transfer for Rugani will create more losers than it creates winners.

First of all, there are the older two center backs. Both David Luiz and Gary Cahill have a year left on their contract. At their age, they will not go to another club for a decent fee, nor will any new club match their current wages. Neither have any incentive beyond playing time to force a move. There are questions as to whether either could play in a modern, high line back four. Rugani’s transfer would surely push both to the bench or, more likely, out of the 18 all together.

Then there are the younger, up and coming center backs. Ethan Ampadu could yet find himself in midfield, but for now he is a center back. Kurt Zouma has already said he will not return to sit on the bench and Matt Miazga’s chances are pushed to zero if Chelsea sign anyone. Unless Chelsea can sell both Luiz and Cahill, any of these young center backs would be fourth on the depth chart at best. That is far from ideal for any of the players.

But more importantly, there is the matter of the first choice pairing. Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are both amazing center backs on their day, but are also prone to lapses. It is likely that Rugani would come in a bench one of the two.

That could eventually be disastrous for the Blues. Rudiger came to be a starter and has the mentality needed in a back line. He is too rough and tumble at times, but deserves to play. Christensen is Chelsea’s one and only academy success story in over a decade, but his drop off last season could see him benched by Rugani. He, like others, is at Chelsea right now to play. If he cannot do that regularly, he will go elsewhere. And then suddenly Chelsea will see their golden goose go elsewhere.

Then there is the other option involving Rugani; the Blues drop 35 million on him and he is not a starter. He is looking to leave Juventus to find playing time, but if he cannot displace Rudiger or Christensen, he will see his move be in vain. That is a sizable fee to drop on a player who is only used in rotation, especially when that role could be given to someone in house.

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Chelsea are probably going to buy a center back. It is probably going to be a mistake in the long run. The Blues should be focusing on other positions and not looking at luxury buys. But the move is more likely to happen than not and Chelsea must be prepared for the consequences of buying frivolously.