Chelsea have finally given up on their attempts to sigh Fermin Lopez from Barcelona, the latest information from the Athletic reports
It hasn’t been the longest or more arduous sagas of the summer, but we were certainly interested, and once the deal to sign Xavi Simons had fallen apart, it seemed like Fermin became our favoured option to replace Christopher Nkunku in the attack after the Frenchman moved to AC Milan.
Chelsea give up on Fermin attempts
Simon Johnson has just reported that the Blues – who made a €40m offer last week – have given up on their attempts to sign the attacker, who was clearly a player near the top of their list.
“Chelsea have opted against pursuing a move for Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez,” Johnson wrote.
“Chelsea were evaluating the possibility of a move for the 22-year-old and were in touch with the player’s camp as they explore attacking options in case of exits, given Barca’s depth in the position.”
The Blues seemed like they were trying to take advantage of the vulnerable financial position of the Catalan giants, who are still trying to register all of their summer additions. However they’ve clearly decided they can manage that without selling one of their most promising young academy products.
Barca manager Hansi Flick put up a strong defence in his press conference, and the club have backed him.
Chelsea likely to reignite Brighton loan deal as another attacking piece leaves the board
So where do Chelsea go without this rather important deal getting done? They’ve signed Alejandro Garnacho, but their pursuit of Xavi Simons and Fermin shows they wanted more than that. The Athletic piece mentions the loan deal to sign Facundo Buonanotte, apparently agreed last week. We’ve not heard much about it since – but it looks increasingly like an important addition now as other moves fall apart.
How have the directors waited this late to secure depth at the 10? We’ve known for weeks that Nkunku and Jackson were going to be moved on leaving just three first-team players (Delap, Palmer and Pedro) to cover at the 9 and the 10. With three cup competitions and a 38 game league season how did they EVER expect this would be sufficient? Know one could have expected an injury crisis in the first month of the season, but it was ENTIRELY PREDICTABLE that we’d face one at some point and that we need at least one more player in the center of attack. So, how did we reach the final hours of the with no solution? For all of the excellent deals they’ve completed, this is just blatant malpractice on their parts.