According to The Telegraph, Chelsea FC are reportedly in negotiations to bring Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho and Uruguayan left-back Alvaro Pereira to Stamford Bridge.
It comes as no surprise that Chelsea are targeting Porto players. Mainly because their knew boss, André Villas-Boas, managed the Portuguese giants last season. He enjoyed tremendous success at FC Porto in 2010-11, winning the Portuguese domestic league, the domestic cup, and the UEFA Cup. Villas-Boas was hired by Roman Abromovich in order to bring the success that Jose Mourinho brought to Chelsea back to West London.
Can he do the job? I think he can, and he may just pull it off sooner than expected. But in order for Villas-Boas to return Chelsea to their past glories, he will have to buy the players that he wants. And by the looks of it, Alvaro Pereira and Joao Moutinho are on the top of his list. The Blues were previously linked with a move for Porto’s Colombian hitman Radamel Falcao. A move for Falcao withered away when the forward signed a contract extension to keep him at the Estadio do Dragao till the year 2015. The Azuis e Brancos enclosed a release clause of 45 million euros in the Colombian’s contract, leading Chelsea to search elsewhere for their coveted young forward.
The club then turned its attention to Belgian sensation Romelu Lukaku. The RSC Anderlecht striker has been dubbed by many as “The Next Didier Drogba”. Lukaku could not have come to a better club. He gets to learn from the likes of Drogba, but he may want to avoid Fernando Torres, who couldn’t even help himself last season at Stamford Bridge.
Alvaro Pereira
Pereira would give Chelsea a very good left-back who has the ability to come forward and aid the attack. The Uruguayan has fared very well for his national team the past two seasons, making it to the World Cup semifinals in South Africa 2010 and winning the Copa America this past summer. Villas-Boas’ familiarity with the player would surely help Pereira adjust to life in the Premier League.
In 32 games in 2010-11, the left-back failed to score for Porto, but he did net two goals for Uruguay in seven matches. Pereira has been on fine form for Uruguay in 2011, bagging two goals and three assists in ten games.
Pereira is rumoured to cost Chelsea anywhere between €20-25 million, which is a pretty large fee for a defender. I like Pereira, but I feel as if that fee is somewhat outrageous. Especially since the Uruguayan was playing for CFR Cluj in the Romanian league just two and a half years ago.
Joao Moutinho
Moutinho would give Chelsea a creative midfield presence that could either play as an attacker or a holding player. The 24-year-old Portuguese playmaker would force Chelsea to cough up around €30 million. Again, this fee is rather inflated. In 26 appearances, Moutinho failed to score in the Portuguese domestic league last season after netting five goals for Sporting in 2009-10. Doesn’t €30 million for an attacking midfielder than did not tally one goal all of last season seem a bit of a reach?
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