A Romeo Lavia and Alejandro Garnacho swap is not the craziest deal Chelsea have attempted since being taken over by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
On Monday, it was claimed that Chelsea had offered Lavia to Manchester United during the summer in their bid to sign Garnacho.
However, that proposal was thought to have been unsuccessful and the Blues went on to pay £40m for the winger’s signature instead.
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If true, it would not have been the first time that the Club World Cup winners have tried a bonkers swap deal.
Timo Werner of Chelsea in action with Arthur and Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus
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Chelsea tried to do Timo Werner and Matthijs de Ligt swap deal
While neither Lavia nor Garnacho are at United, Matthijs de Ligt is. The defender joined the Manchester club from Bayern Munich in 2024.
However, before his move from Juventus to Bayern three years ago, Chelsea were also interested in De Ligt.
In fact, according to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, Chelsea wanted to offer Timo Werner as part of the deal.
A transfer never materialised, though, and De Ligt ended up joining Bayern before eventually moving to United.
While the Blues were unsuccessful in their attempts to sign De Ligt, they were able to sign another Dutch defender in the summer, Jorrel Hato. Hato will not want to remember his performance against Qarabag, but he still has a bright future in west London, given his potential.
Romeo Lavia on the ball in Chelsea training session
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Chelsea could have ended up regretting Romeo Lavia swap
Enzo Maresca will be glad that Lavia never joined United. His injuries are a big problem, but when the 21-year-old is fit and does play, there are few midfielders in the Premier League like him. Getting rid of Lavia would have been a mistake.
He may actually be the most press-resistant midfielder in the division. When Owen Hargreaves spoke about Lavia and his ability to escape pressure last season, he said: “Lavia is so good on the ball. He might be one of the most press-resistant players I’ve seen.”
At some point, Chelsea may have to decide it is time to move on from Lavia because of his injury record. But his ability warrants them giving him more time to try and overcome this issue.