€35m defender would require change in strategy from Chelsea – but Juventus sale could swing deal

Chelsea have joined Tottenham in the race for one of Europe’s rising stars at centre back.

David Hancko has European heavyweights interested, according to CaughtOffside, and the Blues and Spurs have joined Juventus and Atletico Madrid on the list.

At 27, he wouldn’t fit into the normal model of players we look to sign. In fact, that’s what makes us doubt this move entirely. We’ve got a nice spread of ages at centre back, from young talent Levi Colwill, peak age Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile, to the more experienced Axel Disasi and Tosin Adarabioyo. If anything, there’s room for another 20 year old, not another 27 year old.

On the other hand, if there’s a deal to be had for a strong, left footed centre back – he’s valued at €35m by TransferMarkt – why not go for it? With Ben Chilwell set to leave and Renato Veiga the only other option as a backup to Marc Cucurella as a versatile left footed player capable of playing centrally or wider, there could be a space opening up in the squad.

Summer a more likely time for any major defensive changes as Chelsea continue in top gear

There were reports yesterday that Chelsea would be willing to sell Axel Disasi, and that surely would have to take place before any move for Hancko was seriously considered.

Given things are going so well at the moment in terms of results and momentum, the priority will likely be to change as little as possible in January. We would imagine any plan to sell Disasi would wait until the summer (unless a desperate Juventus make a significant offer we can’t turn down) and so in turn any active move for Hancko would wait until then too. The CaughtOffside piece says that Feyenoord wouldn’t countenance a mid-season move anyway.

Let’s come back to this in the summer.