The silly rumor season has begun at Chelsea

Not so great sources are saying Attila Szalai has signed for Chelsea. This article isn’t about that though, because reports of signings out of the blue from bad sources are of no use to the Blues. Unless Matt Law or the Athletic crew get wind of something, it probably isn’t happening. Especially when the player is already past the age where they can sneak into the academy.

The winter window is just close enough for reports of signings to come through from weird sources. It’s silly season at Chelsea and it’s a weird time. Why this rumor? Let’s break it down.

The prevailing stories at the moment are contractual. Antonio Rudiger looks increasingly likely not to extend. Andreas Christensen’s extension has hit a snag. And somewhere between those two is the answer.

First of all, it makes sense why Rudiger wouldn’t extend. It’s hard for players like him to switch clubs, as showcased barely a year ago when Chelsea couldn’t find a buyer for him. It’s likely he hasn’t forgotten how the club tried to sell him and leaving as a free agent may be the only realistic out. He has counterweighted that notion with higher contract demands that Chelsea won’t meet. This is all very normal stuff but it seems as if it’s all pointing towards Rudiger’s exit.

Then there is Christensen, who has really come into his own under Thomas Tuchel. There is less of an indication that he’s looking for moves elsewhere but whatever happened with his contract has stalled things. That might be tied to the Rudiger situation in the sense that the club will have more resources to devote towards Christensen if Rudiger leaves.

Rudiger leaving is enough to trigger the search for a new centerback, which is where these current rumors are coming from. Rudiger and Christensen both leaving would push it even further but there are some caveats to consider.

The first is Jules Kounde. Do the club go back in for him after giving Sevilla some advanced warning this time? It’s not unlikely, though things got very quiet after deadline day around him. The club could have done a deal similar to Hakim Ziyech’s the day after the window ended but opted not to. That could simply mean it will be dealt with later or it could mean the club’s moved on.

The quietness around the Kounde deal is why rumors like the Szalai one can pop up, though it is rare they go all the way to say the deal is done. But that quietness might indicate something else: a clearing of the deck.

Chelsea’s seen a lot of success with three at the back. But, that success has come at the cost of some of the forwards the Blues have. At the same time, the centerbacks have been doing so well that it’s become very hard to justify dropping any of them compared to other positions. Rudiger leaving, and maybe even Christensen too, would make that break easier if that’s the plan.

Of course, that would raise other issues. Which two centerbacks can play in a pair effectively? Evidence, little as it may be under Tuchel, is that there isn’t a pair that can. So the Blues would likely still need to buy a centerback. Furthermore, the issues of midfield under Frank Lampard won’t just magically go away if Tuchel uses the same shape. Someone will have to hold the midfield in ways Jorginho and N’Golo Kante can’t on their own, so someone like Declan Rice may still be needed as well.

There are a lot of ins and outs around what Rudiger does. And rumors love to leak into those cracks and fill any void they can find. That’s how the Szalai rumor came about and it will hardly be the last of its kind before the end of January.