Ibrahima Konate is a Premier League winner. He has also reached the Champions League and FIFA World Cup final. Also, he is set to be available as a free agent this summer, as the French centre-back was not able to agree on an extension with Liverpool despite his contract running out soon. One would imagine that Chelsea would be all over such a deal. Yet, that does not appear to be the case. But why?
Chelsea do need to strengthen their centre-back ranks. Levi Colwill’s absence through an ACL injury proved how light on options the Blues are in that area of the pitch.
Chelsea simply do not have another centre-back who is a capable starter for a team that wants to challenge for titles. Wesley Fofana had that potential but serious injuries over the years have led to a decline. Axel Disasi, Trevoh Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile might have never been on that level. Josh Acheampong is highly rated but has never really gotten consistent chances. And Jorrel Hato might be a better fit as a left-back or in a three-man backline.
So, signing someone like Konate would make sense for Chelsea. But according to TEAMtalk, any deal for the French international centre-back would still require a substantial financial commitment when it comes to his wages, signing-on fees and agent commissions. As a result, the Blues have opted not to pursue the opportunity.
Both positive and negative news for Chelsea
So, it looks like Chelsea have stepped away from the race to sign Konate. This can be seen as both a positive and a negative.
There are many who believed that Konate is not good enough if you want to be a genuine title contender. Yes, he has won the Premier League, but he was not a central figure in that team. At Chelsea, that would be the expectation.
Also, it goes to show that Chelsea are not going to be spending a large sum of money when it comes to wages, which does keep the structure in place.
At the same time, that can be a negative as well. It can be seen as a sign that Chelsea won’t be opting to sign players proven at the highest level, like Konate is. Their wage structure simply would not allow it.
It is not a problem that will be exclusive to Konate. The top player will want wages in line with that. If Chelsea are not willing to meet those demands, they simply won’t be in contention to sign them. Simple as that.
Who will be Chelsea’s next centre-back?
Now, it remains to be seen how they go about filling that void at centre-back. Will they sign another youngster hoping that he will fulfil his potential?
After everything we have seen over the last few years, it would not be the right step for them, that is for sure. But you never know what the Blues will end up doing.
Chelsea have been linked with a few Premier League-proven centre-backs. Jan Paul van Hecke of Brighton and Maxence Lacroix of Crystal Palace come to mind immediately.
Outside of the Premier League, there are a few that seem to be interesting them as well. Joel Ordonez of Club Brugge has been on their radar for a while. Strahinja Pavlovic of AC Milan, Jacobo Ramon of Como FC and a few others have been brought up as possible solutions at the same time.