One of the areas Chelsea have been having a problem with this season has been central midfield, which makes their rumored interest in Colombian Fredy Guarin less than surprising, not to mention Inter seeming quite keen on selling someone.
According to Ginaluca di Marzio, owner Erick Thohir would like to see some money coming in from sales before beginning to invest more money in the club and improving the squad, currently fifth in Serie A and looking quite far away from making it to one of the three Champions League spots.
Chelsea have been using different players in the midfield this season, with a different pairing almost every match – Ramires, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and for a very short while Marco Van Ginkel before he got injured. Jose Mourinho is looking for more physicality and toughness from his team, which might be bolstered with creative attacking midfielders, but the greatness of Mourinho’s past Chelsea sides had a lot more to do with toughness and physicality.
Guarin, 27, has no problem filling in the defensive role or being a box-to-box type of player, scoring 7 goals and adding 13 assists since arriving at Inter from Porto in 2012. It began with a loan deal but turned into something more permanent, purchased for for €11 million.
He has been playing for the national team since 2006, making 47 appearances and scoring 3 goals since. According to the report, the only thing left to decide is the fee, with the agreement between Guarin and Chelsea already been agreed. It should cost them something along the lines of €15-20 million, as Mourinho tries to spend more and more money to try and prove that he’s the best manager out there when unlimited resources can buy him what he wants.
In other transfer “news”, Rafa Benitez seemed interested in adding another Liverpool player; this time it’s Daniel Agger, who for some reason has lost his place in the Liverpool lineup; Everton aren’t done signing players, now looking to Dundee United and their pair or youngsters, Andrew Robertson and John Souttar; and Borussia Dortmund are keen on signing Sunderland’s Ji Dong-Won.