Chelsea dealt huge blow by Barcelona decision regarding fullback

Chelsea has a lot of work to do this summer. While that may seem like the understatement of the year, the Blues’ current situation is rather dire after questions mark arose regarding a plethora of players in their team this summer. In addition to the free agents that have already departed, Thomas Tuchel’s side is at risk of losing many more over the next few months. There are at least two fullbacks questioning their futures, a couple of midfield renewals to contemplate and four or five attackers that could be in different stripes come the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign.

One of the first orders of business on Chelsea’s wishlist will be wingbacks. Tuchel has struggled with wingback depth from the moment he stepped foot at Cobham in January of 2021. The situation became even more dire last winter when Ben Chilwell and Reece James both suffered long-term injuries within games of each other. The Blues’ hierarchy failed to deliver a suitable back-up to Chilwell or James in the January transfer window, but it did identify future targets. One of the names on the wishlist was Barcelona right back Sergino Dest.

Chelsea dealt a huge blow in the pursuit of Barcelona fullback Sergino Dest

Dest seemed a suitable option for the west Londoners due to his positional flexibility. Although the American plays primarily as a right (wing)back for the Blaugrana, he is deployed as a left back sometimes for Gregg Berhalter’s United States Men’s National Team. He is not known for his defensive capabilities, but he’s still just 21 years old, so there is a lot of room to grow. Furthermore, Xavi was not a huge admirer of Dest when he first arrived at the Nou Camp. Barcelona signed Dani Alves to cover the right fullback spot, leaving Dest to seek a move.

It seemed like a ‘right place, right time’ situation for Chelsea, who needed a capable and relatively cheap alternative to James. Unfortunately, the Blues have now been dealt a massive blow in their pursuit of the young American defender as Xavi’s opinion has completely changed. Reports from Spain are now stating that the Blaugrana legend has chosen to stick with Dest for the future over the club legend, Alves, due to his potential at such a young age.

Chelsea will now be forced to look elsewhere as they try to find someone who can fill in for James when injured or split the workload with him over a season consisting of 50+ matches. The same goes for Chilwell on the left, although the Blues have a handful of capable back-ups within their ranks with the loan army. It seems as if Tuchel is content with recalling Emerson or even promoting Ian Maatsen to the first team to play with Chilwell should Marcos Alonso leave the club this summer. However, the reigning Champions of the World are more likely to dip into the transfer market when searching for a new right-sided defender.

Jules Kounde—who is rumored to be nearing his long-awaited move to Stamford Bridge—can play as a right back if needed as he’s done so with Sevilla on numerous occasions this season. Regardless, Tuchel seems set on bringing in an elite-level wingback to compete with James, who the manager has also deployed in a centerback spot numerous times. Chelsea has been linked with players like Achraf Hakimi and Ivan Perisic already this summer. The latter is on his way to Tottenham Hotspur and it’d be very surprising to see Paris Saint-Germain let Hakimi go this early into his tenure with the French giant. Thus, with Dest off the board, the Blues are going to have to get creative in their pursuit of a wingback as time ticks on.

Who would you like to see the Blues sign or add to back-up James? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter!