Chelsea does not go after Kevin De Bruyne this summer despite their need for more experience – but considered signing the Virgil van Dijk van Liverpool before signing a new contract
Chelsea is not ready to submit a range of Kevin De Bruyne – despite the fact that Enzo Maresca is happy to add more experience to his blues team. The Belgian will leave Manchester City this summer and is available for free.
De Bruyne has turned out to be one of the greatest foreign players of the Premier League and was once in the books of Chelsea, but they chose to let him leave as a young person before returning to England with the city. The playmaker is now 33 and there are concerns about how he and Cole Palmer would fit into the same team.
Maresca's transfer plans are likely to be influenced by whether or not Chelsea is eligible for the Champions League with five teams that view three places in the last weeks of the season.
The West -Londers considered a move for Virgil van Dijk before he wrote a new contract with Liverpool. The Dutchman is also 33, the same as De Bruyne, but they thought he had not started to slow down at the same pace as the Belgian, De Telegraaf reports.
Instead of focusing on older players such as De Bruyne Chelsea, they want to ensure that those who sign them this summer has many first team games under their belt with experience that occurs for their age.
Maresca said: “I think our team will have more experience next year and then we can be better. Certainly, if you have experience, you will undoubtedly have a little more, but those who are struggling in terms of experience this year, they have been in terms of experience for another year. They can be better next year.”
Chelsea is connected to people like Jarrad Branthwaite, who comes to Everton at 100 games, and is a fixture in the Premier League. However, the club knows that their summer spending will only depend on whether they can explain the income of Champions League.
Maresca said: “According to the rules of today, you have to be careful how much you spend. So it will be a very different kind of target if we end up in the Champions League.”
In the meantime, De Bruyne has underlined his wish to keep playing at the highest level. The Belgian admits that he was surprised that City chose to separate his distance from him, but insists that he still has enough to offer. There is interest from the MLS and the Saudi Pro League, but the playmaker could just stay in Europe.
Aston Villa reportedly had internal conversations about possibly behind the veteran star, who is a double PFA player of the year winner.
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