Journo names North American star as Chelsea’s priority target in midfield

Transfer News: Ajax Edson Alvarez remains a priority for Chelsea in January

According to a tweet from Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports (h/t Express), Chelsea will prioritise a deal to sign Ajax midfielder and summer target Edson Alvarez during the January transfer window.

Former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel was keen on signing the Mexican international in the summer. He also made a late attempt to poach him from the Netherlands, but nothing materialised because of the delay. Now, the German is sacked by the club.

Chelsea made an offer of £40m to sign Alvarez. The player even skipped training on deadline day to get this move done. But, with Ajax letting go of a number of their key players in the transfer window already, they wanted to keep hold of their midfield lynchpin.

So far, the new manager Graham Potter and head of scouting Kyle Macauley have not changed anything about this target. It could mean that they are also bought into the idea of prioritising the signing of the 24-year-old in a few months’ time.

The former CF America player is a versatile defensive midfielder, who can easily slot in as a centre-back when required. As shown in the game against Liverpool in the Champions League, he has great game-reading skills, is good on the ball and is physically strong on challenges.

For Chelsea, the time may have arrived to find a successor for N’Golo Kante. The Frenchman is 31 now and is struggling to string together a run of games due to injuries in the last 12 to 18 months. Moreover, his contract at Chelsea expires at the end of this season and nothing is advanced on the extension front.

Alvarez has the attributes to make that defensive midfield position his own at Stamford Bridge. The club must do everything in their might to make this deal happen in January.

More Chelsea News:

• Trevoh Chalobah could leave Chelsea in January to play more
• Sander Berge shuts down rumours linking him to Chelsea
• Richarlison reveals that Chelsea made an offer to sign him in the summer

Hopefully, this is a deal that materializes in the near future. Denis Zakaria might feel like a safety net now but the deal struck with Juventus this summer was that for a loan transfer.