Marouane Fellaini has been linked with Chelsea in the gossip columns, he could improve Manchester United’s midfield too.
Central-midfielder Marouane Fellaini has been in excellent form over the past fortnight, scoring twice in his last three games.
He is reported to have caught the eye of Roman Abramovich, with the Mirror reporting he has made his way onto the list of Chelsea’s summer transfer targets.
The paper adds that cash-rich Chelsea are willing to part with £22 million to sign him from Everton.
Despite being at Everton since 2008, the Belgian international is still only 24, and has many years ahead of him at the top level.
The fact he is already well-accustomed to playing in the Premier League, only makes him a more desirable signing for the top sides, knowing that like Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, he could likely adapt to playing for a Champions League team with relative ease.
So why £22 million may seem like a high price- and at first look it sounds overpriced, if he were to go onto play for Chelsea for a decade he could turn out to be more than excellent value for money.
Looking at Chelsea’s transfers over the year, concerns over value for money has hardly been a reason not to launch a transfer bid, with £18 million Yuri Zhirkov one of many that springs to mind, and such a deal would barely touch the sides in the Blues reportedly huge transfer budget.
Should he arrive, Fellaini would find himself teaming up with young Belgian prospects Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne, when they both eventually get given chances at the Bridge.
But what of his current club, Everton? The 6 ft 4 midfielder was part of the Toffees line-up which lost the FA Cup semi-final to rivals Liverpool and spoke publicly afterwards of the club’s need to improve, urging them to loosen the purse strings to be more competitive.
He is not wrong, despite another top half finish, and it is looking presently like one above Liverpool, Everton need to spend to improve.
It would be ironic if, after his plea to do so, the club were able to only after selling him.
While a blow to lose Fellaini, if a £22 million was received for him, it would be more money than Everton have had in years to re-shape their squad, and of course there may be up to another £5-10 million on top too which the club may have stored up any way.
Even if not, the £22 million would allow David Moyes to buy around four quality players to replenish his squad. Surely that would make up for losing their star midfielder?
If Everton are really to progress, and we don’t just mean adding free transfers and loan signings, they probably need to sell before they can buy. Such a big from Chelsea might just be too good to refuse.
It may be a wrench for the Belgian to leave, just when the club are on an upwards curve, finally looking to have found a reliable striker in Nikica Jelavic, but surely he could not turn down Champions League football with the competition’s finalists?
Other clubs may be interested too, he would certainly improve Manchester United’s midfield, but if it came to a bidding war, it would please Everton of course, but it is a battle which surely Chelsea would win.
Would Fellaini be a good signing for Chelsea? Would his sale be tolerable to Everton fans if such a high fee was secured?
image: © nicksarebi
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