As Chelsea are continuing to be linked with every known central defender on the planet, there repeatedly comes opportunities for other clubs to be dragged into a fledging, and often baseless, story.
One of the defenders this week linked with Chelsea, and it’s one of many, is Villarreal’s Mateo Musacchio. Marca say that the claims started in the English media, but they’ve also been popping up in Spain, so they don’t get off with it that easily.
Going over the English claims of a possible €25m offer in the January transfer window, Marca say this would be ‘difficult, almost impossible’ for Chelsea to pull off. That’s because Musacchio is an important player for Villarreal and they wouldn’t want to lose him midway through a season.
It’s pointed out that during the winter window of 2015, Villarreal sold Gabriel Paulista to Arsenal for €18m, but Marca say that’s only because they were able to sign Eric Bailly as a replacement, and Gabriel wasn’t crucial to the manager.
A move is much more possible next summer, say Marca, because Musacchio’s contract runs out in June 2018. Therefore patience would be needed on the part of Chelsea.
That’s when Tottenham are dragged into the equation. Marca say Villarreal have rejected offers from Spurs and AC Milan, but they don’t say when. In May, Marca claimed Musacchio was ‘in the orbit’ of Tottenham and Manchester United.
We speculated at the time that perhaps those claims were simply assumptions after earlier Tottenham interest in 2014. Since then Tottenham’s defence has continued to evolve and is now one of the best in the league.
Federico Fazio left the club in the summer for AS Roma on loan, and it will be hoped that turns permanent. But, even so, Tottenham still have depth with Kevin Wimmer and Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Should Wimmer leave in order to get games, and there’s concern in Austria about the player’s lack of minutes, then 26 year old Argentina international Musacchio may well be considered again, but it’s more likely that the ship has sailed.
