Chelsea’s interest in Marc Guiu has gone from a vague rumour to “probably happening,” in the space of a few days.
The Blues are “pushing” to complete a £5m deal for the 18 year old Barcelona striker, and Nick Purewal of the Evening Standard says there are “advanced talks” over a contract.
But today’s important update is that signing the 18 year old won’t end our in other strikers. The approach being taken seems to be a very open minded one – we’re looking to accumulate good players for good prices, not necessarily to restrict ourselves to a strict plan when it comes to squad building.
That means that Jonathan David, a far more experienced player with lots of top flight European experience, could still be signed even if Guiu comes in: “Chelsea would be expected to continue their bid to add further power to their forward line, even if Guiu does join the Blues,” Purewal wrote.
Squad building lessons and a long queue for minutes
Squad building is general should always have some flexibility – you don’t ever want to miss out on a star just because it didn’t fit the plan. But in this case we’re not sure signing Guiu and David would be wise. Nicolas Jackson will be first choice, these two would be sitting on the bench, and it means Christopher Nkunku has to be squeezed in somewhere else.
If we really think Guiu is a top prospect then sign him and use him as third choice behind Jackson and Nkunku. If he’s not up to it, sign David and leave Guiu in Spain. Unless the plan is to loan him out (and we’ve seen no indication of that) signing both would seem excessive.
Given Jackson is a solid player for now and Guiu probably has a higher ceiling than David, we’re in favour of rolling the rice on the youngster.
