Wesley Sneijder has suggested that Chelsea would be foolish to sign Edson Alvarez as the Ajax centre-midfielder is “of no use” to the Dutch side.
From the outside, it was quite amusing watching Chelsea operate during the summer transfer window.
Their pursuit of Everton’s Anthony Gordon was baffling and calmer heads eventually prevailed as their push to sign him came to no avail.
After being unable to sign the winger, Chelsea did not stop there as they pursued a midfielder and striker in the latter days of the window.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang secured a return to the Premier League on deadline day as the former Arsenal captain moved to the Blues from FC Barcelona.
That left them with a new midfielder on the agenda and they eventually settled on Denis Zakaria. The ex-Man Utd target joined Chelsea on loan from Juventus.
This move has been a failure for all involved as the centre-midfielder has barely featured for the Premier League club.
It is already being reported that Zakaria could return to Juventus in January as Chelsea consider ending his loan deal prematurely.
One of the other midfielders Chelsea looked at in the summer was Alvarez. Around €50m was offered but the Dutch outfit refused to let him leave as several of their valuable assets had already been let go.
Earlier this month it was claimed that fresh interest in Alvarez from Chelsea could be on the cards in January if Zakaria does exit Stamford Bridge.
But former Netherlands and Inter Milan star Sneijder thinks Chelsea would be daft to go back in for Alvarez. He thinks he is “of no use” to his team.
“Edson Alvarez plays every ball backwards or sideways, he’s of no use,” Sneijder told Voetbal International.
“They [Ajax] should have taken him to London quickly. You could have signed two good players for that [amount of money Chelsea offered in the summer].”
These comments come after Fabrizio Romano told Caught Offside that Alvarez is still “on Chelsea’s list”.
“Chelsea held talks over signing Edson Alvarez late on in the summer, so could they come back in for him again in the near future?
“He’s always been on Chelsea’s list, but Ajax will try to keep him at least until the end of the season.
“There are no negotiations ongoing now, also no decision will be made by Chelsea on new midfielder in October; it will take some time. Not an easy one, for sure.
“It’s looking possible that N’Golo Kante will not be signing a new contract, making him a free agent in the summer. If so, Chelsea will need a replacement, but there’s no decision yet on who that will be.”
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