Chelsea need a centre-back. Levi Colwill was their best one, and by some distance, before he suffered an ACL injury in pre-season training. That means that he could be out for the rest of the campaign. Tosin Adarabioyo is out injured as well. That meant that the Blues had to start with Trevoh Chalobah and Josh Acheampong in their season-opener against Crystal Palace. Although overall solid, at times, they did look shaky and were not as effective in building up attacks from the back.
The media briefing has been that Chelsea are happy with the options they have at centre-back. But Enzo Maresca's comments in the media suggest that he is keen to sign another, capable of replacing Colwill. Hopefully, the Blues will back the manager, who won them the Club World Cup just a month ago. He knows the system and its requirements better than anybody else.
In the eyes of many, someone like Alessandro Bastoni would be the perfect signing for Chelsea this summer. He is considered one of the best centre-backs in the world, is 26 years of age, a full Italian international and left-footed. It makes all the sense in the world.
As reported by Gazzetta, a move for Bastoni to Chelsea, however, never even sparked. The Blues offered €50 million, an offer that was politely declined.
Inter Milan respond to Chelsea's €50m Alessandro Bastoni offer
So, it looks like Inter Milan are not keen to part ways with Bastoni, at least for that kind of an offer. It is not hard to understand why either.
Bastoni is one of the best centre-backs in the world. In the modern-day transfer market, you cannot expect to sign him for a €50 million fee, unless his contract was running out and he was not ready to sign a new one, which is not the case.
It remains to be seen if Chelsea do end up signing another centre-back. It just feels like they should. One cannot forget that the likes of Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile are very injury-prone as well.