
So Ricardo Carvalho has been spotted in Milan and the general consensus seems to be that he’s about to become the latest Chelsea departure of the summer.
No great surprise there really considering he barely had the Chelsea shirt on his back last season. He might have been our best central defender once upon a time but injuries, and possibly a lack of motivation, caught up with him and his departure has looked inevitable.
He wanted to go last summer, and whilst I can see why the club were reluctant to let him go at the time given his contribution to our defensive partnership in the previous season, in hindsight, we probably left it a season too late.
At 32 and not enjoying his best form in the last campaign, whilst still regarded a good centre-back, Carvalho is unlikely to bring in anywhere near the rumoured £15million Porto are asking for Bruno Alves – and since he’s allegedly the player we want to bring in as a replacement, the maths, as ever, aren’t ideal.
So, all this leaves us with a couple of questions: Firstly, Ricardo Carvalho’s destination. He was previously rumoured to be wanted by Liverpool but that was in the days of the FSW. Last summer it was Inter, and a reunion with former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho being touted. But with Carvalho in Milan it looks as if he could still end up there despite Mourinho’s departure.
Do we really need a replacement though?
We managed pretty well without Carvalho last season and certainly weren’t struggling for defensive cover in the same way United were. Alex more than earned his place last season, Branislav Ivanovic can play centrally if needed and we still have a younger options we need to bring through anyway. Even with all the nonsense taking JT’s focus off the game last season, I wouldn’t say we were in trouble defensively.
You might think differently though….