Chelsea have made a formal bid to sign Ajax midfielder Edson Alvarez, according to De Telegraaf’s Mike Verweij.
The Blues have had a disappointing start to the new Premier League campaign with just seven points from five games.
They have struggled to find the back of the net regularly while there have also been concerns over their defensive midfield options.
Mateo Kovacic has just returned from a knee injury while N’Golo Kante could be out for a while as he recovers from a hamstring problem.
Amidst this, Chelsea are eyeing a new holding midfielder, and Verweij reports that the club have made a £43 million bid to sign Ajax’s Alvarez.
The Mexican is now desperate to join the Blues. He has been offered four times his salary and believes a similar opportunity won’t come again.
Our view:
Chelsea currently have Jorginho, Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek as the regular midfield options in the first-team squad.
Among those, Jorginho has been the regular in the starting line-up, but he is more of a possession-based midfielder rather than a tough tackler.
Kovacic has done a credible job over recent seasons, but Chelsea have tended to lack the dominance in midfield when Kante has been on the sidelines.
Alvarez would be a fantastic signing to fill the void. The Mexican won two tackles and 1.4 interceptions per Eredivisie game last term alongside 3.3 aerial duels.
He also completed 87 per cent of his passes while chipping in with five goals and one assist. Judging by those statistics, he could fit in perfectly at Chelsea.
The big question remains whether Ajax would sell him. The Dutch transfer window closed last night and the club don’t have the chance to sign a replacement.
The transfer package is tempting for Ajax, but they are under no pressure with three years left on his contract. Alvarez may have to push for a move on deadline day.
