The defender will have to be assessed after being forced off during the first-half of their game against Arsenal at the weekend. (Photo by Jack Thomas/Getty Images)placeholder image
The defender will have to be assessed after being forced off during the first-half of their game against Arsenal at the weekend. (Photo by Jack Thomas/Getty Images)
Chelsea have been linked with a move for Nottingham Forest’s Murillo but should Enzo Maresca be looking closer to home?
One of the downsides to having such a young squad is that it can be inconsistent, and yet The Blues find themselves sitting in second place in the Premier League and only six points behind Arsenal.
In a 38 game season, every club has a dip in form and Maresca will be hoping that his team hits top form just as their London rivals hit a bump in the road. One way that they can do this is by following in their footsteps and by tightening up at the back.
Who Chelsea should sign instead of Murillo
With a valuation in the region of £70m, Chelsea could save a fortune by targeting a player who knows exactly what it takes to win at Stamford Bridge having spent his formative years in one of England’s most successful academy sides. All the talk and speculation is of when Marc Guehi will sign for Liverpool, but for Chelsea, there are few signings that make more sense than bringing back one of their own.
After leaving Chelsea in 2021, Guehi has gone from strength to strength and can now count Real Madrid and Bayern Munich as keen admirers. The Crystal Palace skipper is more than just a good defender and is seen by many as a future England captain given his natural leadership skills and calm presence.
As a former teammate of Reece James, and international teammate of several other of the current Blues team, returning to a club he knows so well makes a lot of sense. That he wouldn’t even have to move house also makes it more desirable than uprooting to Liverpool or abroad.
What Guehi said about leaving Chelsea
With no transfer fee or a cut price fee in January, Chelsea should shelve any plan to sign Murillo and pick up the phone to Guehi in what would be a welcome homecoming transfer. Speaking shortly after his move to Palace, Guehi revealed just how much of a wretch it was for him to leave Stamford Bridge.
"It's great to go through the ranks at the youth team and play those games," he said, "but when you go out there, and you're playing for something, playing for fans, playing for three points and it's really important." Guehi made his intentions clear to Chelsea and an £18m move to Palace was sanctioned in the summer of 2021. The boy from Lewisham was returning to south London. He was also leaving the place he had called home for 14 years.
"It hurt a lot just because I was there for such a long time," he said. "It's such a different feeling leaving there and not going back to where you've been for so long. But in order to grow, sometimes you have to take the hard choice and take the hard path sometimes."
Alongside Trevor Chalobah, if Guehi was signed, Chelsea could have the sort of partnership that brought the same sort of stability that was seen when John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho were in their prime.
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