Benoit Badiashile is in London to undergo his medical ahead of Chelsea move
According to Football.London, AS Monaco defender Benoit Badiashile, is currently in London to undergo his medical ahead of the completion of his move to Chelsea during this transfer window.
A few days ago, The Athletic reported that the Blues have agreed on transfer terms to sign the French defender for a fee of around £32.8m-£33.7m. The latest on it is that the player will sign a six-and-a-half-year deal with Chelsea.
Badiashile was part of the Blues alternative plan to sign a left-sided centre-back when it became apparent that getting Josko Gvardiol is becoming tougher by the day. They agreed on personal terms with the Croatia international in the summer, but the price became too steep.
Since then, the RB Leipzig man was linked with Chelsea, but now the price tag has gone beyond €90m. Completing the deal to sign Badiashile may mean that the club does not go back in direction of trying to sign Gvardiol.
The Monaco defender is only 21 but experienced in the French game. He has made over 100 senior appearances for the Ligue 1 side and has not looked out of place.
The Frenchman is a multi-faceted defender who is very fast in recovery runs, reads the game well, is good on the ball and is a physical giant in both boxes from set-piece situations.
By the looks of it, if everything goes well, Chelsea might have hit a jackpot getting Badiashile for 30-odd million, rather than spending triple that to get Gvardiol, who has a similar profile.
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The club can save the money and use it to strengthen other areas of the squad, to be honest. The need for a striker and a midfield is quite apparent and appealing.
