One of Chelsea’s indisputable first-team players last season, we find it strange that César Azpilicueta is being so heavily linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge in these early months of the transfer window.
With Antonio Conte and his 3-5-2 coming in, you would think the Spaniard’s versatility, capable of playing either at right-back or left-back, would make him one of the guaranteed players to be staying.
Despite this, strange rumours of a possible move to Manchester United (he is a Mourinho favourite, after all) and a return to Spain at Athletic Bilbao have emerged.
On Tuesday, AS quickly look into the links of the latter with the Chelsea player, with the Liga BBVA outfit admitting it would be difficult for them to get a deal done for the full-back.
According to the Spanish newspaper, the London club would require a fee of at least €15m (£11.5m) to let him leave, which we find rather low considering his importance to the club over the past few years.
With three years left on his contract and at only 26 years of age, you would expect Chelsea to ask for at least double that amount.
Seems very unlikely he will leave.
