After Chelsea’s 3-0 win away at Newcastle manager Andre Villas-Boas told the media that both central defender Alex and centre forward Nicolas Anelka had handed in transfer requests. The 34 year old manager also said that the duo would be training separately from the rest of the squad until any move was completed.
Villas-Boas said “My conversation with them was fair and direct. They have shown their interest in leaving the club and have had transfer requests in for some time. They are top players. Their professionalism and integrity are not in question. 'But we have decided to assign different training times to them. If their transfers don't happen, the players will return to full training.'
As a Chelsea fan, I wasn’t surprised by this news but I was slightly concerned. Nicolas Anelka hasn’t done anything particularly impressive since the end of the 2009/10 season, so there’s no need to replace him. However, Alex is a reliable, wise and powerful centre-half who I feel contributes a lot to the Chelsea squad.
David Luiz is often criticized for being too rash and often finding himself out of position, while Alex has no such issues. Now I’m not saying Alex is better than David Luiz, I’m just pointing out that there are parts of Alex’s game which his fellow Brazilian can learn from.
However, despite my disappointment at Alex leaving the club, I can understand why he’d want to leave. Since David Luiz joined in January this year, Alex has been demoted to 4th choice centre-back behind John Terry, David Luiz and Branislav Ivanovic. For a player attempting to get into Brazil’s 2014 world cup squad, that’s simply not good enough.
As for who Alex will join, there’s a lot of potential options such as Juventus, newly rich clubs Anzhi Makhachkala and PSG or perhaps even a return to Brazil. A move to Arsenal would’ve been considered possible in the summer, but Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Thomas Vermaelen have made the gunners’ defence considerably more solid than it was this time last year.
Nicolas Anelka, at 32 is three years older than the 29 year old Alex and has very little to prove. Throughout his career he’s played for the likes of Real Madrid, Arsenal and Liverpool as well as Chelsea. A move to an American side, perhaps L.A galaxy or a move back to France with old club PSG have both been spoke about as possible destinations as has a move to Russia.
To conclude, Chelsea have to sign a replacement in my opinion, with many mentioning Gary Cahill. However, Cahill’s shaky performances for Bolton this season makes me think a £15 million signing of him would be a bad move. I’d personally like to see Mats Hummels join, although Borussia Dortmund wouldn’t let him go cheaply, the same could be said for Hummels’ defensive partner Neven Subotic.
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