Chelsea’s first team squad is pretty set now.
They’ve got a quality first team, and plenty of good players backing them up. The rotation is really in full force now, and last night’s game was a great example of how effective the big squad has proved to be. Enzo Maresca made 7 changes, but the team he chose still beat Southampton with ease.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be tweaks along the way however, and it certainly doesn’t rule out Chelsea continuing to buy young talents to keep their conveyor belt going. The most recent name to be mentioned comes from an exclusive from CaughtOffside.
Tall, elegant and full of skills and with a great passing range, he’s one of the gems currently in the French Under-21 setup.
CaughtOffside say a source has told them that Chelsea have joined Liverpool and Arsenal in having signing Ayyoub Bouaddi. The 17 year old has broken into the Lille team and looks like he could be the next teenage sensation to emerge from Ligue 1.
Ayyoub Bouaddi in action for Lille. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
Ayyoub Bouaddi in action for Lille. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
Chelsea can muscle in on Arsenal relationship
Arsenal have signed a number of players from Lille in recent years and are clearly among the favourites to snap up the latest talent. But there’s no reason Chelsea can’t stick their oar in. The Gunners may have a good relationship with the French side, but money talks, and if we really want Bouaddi we can make it happen.
The CaughtOffside source says that a fee of around €30m would be necessary to sign the midfield talent, obviously a big number for a player who remains something of an unknown quantity. But if we don’t jump on him, someone else probably will. With 6 league starts to his name already, and surely more to come this season, that price is only like to go up if he continues to show off his superb talent.