Even before Ancelotti's arrival, Chelsea were being linked with pretty much every top player under the sun. Almost all of those moves will never happen, but I thought it might be an interesting exercise to try and keep tabs on what players we are linked with versus which actually happen.
Will keep this page updated and, just for fun, post a rating out of 10 against each player, where 10 means a move to Stamford Bridge is a nailed on certainty - in my view at least.
Summer 09 – the transfer gossip story so far
Players linked with a move to Chelsea:
Aguero (3 – too pricey)
Tevez (2 – staying in the north) MOVED TO MAN CITY
David Villa (5 – probably available but will likely stay in Spain)
Ribery (2 – too pricey, may end up staying at Bayern Munich)
Kaka (Real Madrid have their man) (MOVED TO REAL MADRID)
Glen Johnson (MOVED TO LIVERPOOL)
Pato (3 – too expensive)
Arnautovic (4 - looked likely, but gone a bit quiet of late)
Dzeko (6 - young player, big impact in Germany. Yes please)
Stephane Sessegnon (4 - isn't he a central midfield player?)
Burdisso (2)
Adebayor (5 – can half see it happening) MOVED TO MAN CITY
Alonso (1 – please god no) MOVED TO REAL MADRID
Ibrahimovic (2 - extortionate price and don't see the point) MOVED TO BARCA
Maicon (1 - too expensive and lord knows why we'd sign another RB)
Pirlo (4)
Moussa Dembele (1 – who?)
Fabregas (1 - just won't happen and Barca seem sure they've got their man)
Van der Vaart (4 - linked with a few times, so could happen. Don't need him)
Ashley Young (4 - pacy winger, yes please. Likely to be overpriced)
Beckham (1)
Mexes (3 - even if Ricky leaves, we might not need reinforcements)
Torres (0 - this just won't happen)
Jonjo Shelvey (5 - reports suggest this is a done deal)
Adam Johnson (6 - Middlesbrough need to sell, and young buys seem to be our thing this year)
Schneider (3)
Matic (7 - looks like a done deal for the Serbian youngster) MOVED TO CHELSEA
Douglas Costa (2 - more likely to head to Old Trafford)
Huntelaar (2 - not the sort of player we need) MOVED TO MILAN
De Rossi (2 - Roma have apparently turned the deal down)
Pazzini (4 - looks like we're still after a striker, but his club have played it down)
Seedorf (1 - why on earth...?)
Coentrao (3 - we seem to be pursuing youth targets)
Di Maria (3 - as with Coentrao and we need another right winger. Highly rated)
De Guzman (4 - Carlo is determined to buy a central midfielder, and Feyenoord have £ problems)
Jovetic (1 - not a widespread rumour, and Fiorentina don't want to sell)
Done Deals
Ross Turnbull
Yuri Zhirkhov
Dean Sturridge
Nemanja Matic
Have I missed any of the gossip? Let me know by posting a comment and I'll add to the list.
Rafael van der Vaart (Daily Mail), Ashley Young (The Sun back in May). Have also seen reference to Beckham - please tell me that's a joke. Lots of papers talking about us selling Malouda - surely not after he's just started playing properly????
Posted by: James | 02 June 2009 at 17:37
If we spend 18.5 on Glen Johnson I might involuntarily gouge my eye out. Consider we sold him for 4. Has he gotten that much better and I missed it?
Posted by: Michael Hepp | 20 June 2009 at 02:09
sturridge is supposed to be a done deal.
Posted by: roger | 23 June 2009 at 16:34
i agree with you..
why we need another right full back??
we have another player that can play that position..
ivanovic..mancienne..fereira...
Posted by: syd_master | 25 June 2009 at 11:25
syd_master, Roger - thanks both for your comments and for stopping by the site!
Aside from the RB position, many of the players we are supposedly going after don't make much sense to me. Can only hope that much of this (esp. Alonso, Gattuso and extortionate RBs) is just senseless paper talk....
Looks like Strrudge is done. Haven't seen much of him play aside from the odd appearance off the bench for City but he's talked about very positively in the papers. Beginnings of a new youth-focused policy, perchance?
Posted by: Russell Saunders | 25 June 2009 at 12:14
Beckham to Chelsea - Why not. That would be a great signing, bring him of the bench to whip some free kicks in - BRING IT ON!
Posted by: Paul (No1Fan) | 06 August 2009 at 16:31
Lots of papers talking about us selling Malouda - surely not after he's just started playing properly????
Posted by: 3D sex games | 26 December 2009 at 10:46