A Third Manchester City Player Joins Chelsea’s List of Summer Targets

Chelsea have now entered the race for a second Manchester City defender, Oleksandr Zinchenko, who has also been named as a target for Arsenal and Everton. He now also becomes the third City player to be linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge this summer.

The main area of concern on the pitch for Chelsea is said to be the defensive line. They have lost their defensive core with more anticipated to leave before the summer window closes. Out the door already are Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger, who have joined Barcelona and Real Madrid respectfully.

The other Chelsea players still heavily linked with an exit are Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso; both are set to join Christensen at the Camp Nou and the duo’s status has their futures away from Stamford Bridge, at the moment. Azpilicueta has reportedly asked the new owner, Todd Boehly, to honour the previous owner’s promise and allow him to leave the club.

Alonso’s agents have touched down in London to discuss his departure with Boehly and his crew. The Londoners are said to be ready to part ways with both defenders and have named their price for the pair.

"Chelsea have set their asking price for Barcelona to sign Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso this summer. Spanish outlet Sport say both Azpilicueta and Alonso have agreed personal terms with Barcelona, who are optimistic of completing the double transfer raid next week.The La Liga giants still need to table suitable offers to Chelsea, however, with reports in Spain saying they want €13m for each player, meaning the total cost will be just over £22m. (Via: metro.co.uk)"

Chelsea Has a Long List of Defenders Targeted for the Summer

Before the opening of the transfer window, the Blues were been linked with every centre-back and fullback out there, but none so much as Sevilla’s Jules Kounde. Sadly, after edging closer to a West London transfer, the player’s move seems no closer than it was before the window opened.

This is because of his injury while on international duty and the move could be in jeopardy because Thomas Tuchel is looking to the Serie A for his preferred target which is the Dutchman, Matthijs de Ligt.

Added to the list most recently is de Ligt’s countryman, Nathan Ake, from Manchester City and his teammate, Oleksandr Zinchenko. The latter has been a target for London rivals, Arsenal and Merseyside outfit, Everton.

The Gunner sees him as an alternative option to Ajax’s Lisandro Martinez, who is seen as a better option for the Gunners as he is able to operate as a CB and LB. Everton, on the other hand, views Zinchenko as a midfielder option, wanting his attacking game at Goodison Park with him able to cover in defence as well.

If this is the case, this could leave the door wide open for Chelsea to come and get the Man City left-side player. Both clubs cannot offer Champions League football with only the Toffees able to offer consistent game time like Chelsea, who will possibly lose their left-back to Barcelona.

Whatever Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel, and Todd Boehly have planned better start taking shape soon, as the preseason has begun for some and they do not want to fall behind their title rivals in the chase for some of the top talents around the world.

They also need to be careful and not get labelled Manchester City 2.0. Tuchel has already held positive talks with their main summer target from City, which is Raheem Sterling. If they take him, Aka, and Zinchenko, we could see the second side of Pep Guardiola performing against him.