Chelsea In Secret Talks With Attacking Pair, But What Could They Offer The Blues?

There are plenty of people who don't agree with the way Chelsea are run as a football club, but no one can argue that it hasn't brought success. Roman Abramovic has ploughed humongous amounts of money into the west London club but in return he has been rewarded with numerous Premier League titles, FA Cups and the Champions League, all the while witnessing some of the top players in world football. Now, according to Caught Offside - cited by BBC - it is reported that he is in secret talks to bring two CSKA Moscow players - Alan Dzagoev and Seydou Doumbia.

But who are the pair, what can they offer and where would they fit in at Stamford Bridge?

Dzagoev is a 23-year-old midfielder who can play in a number of positions, from a holding central player to an offensive playmaker to a winger, though he is most recognisably an attacking midfiedler.

He's played 11 games in the Russian Premier League this season and has completed almost 80% of his passes, although he hasn't played in this calendar year.

Doumbia has delivered on a constant basis in the current campaign, scoring nine goals and notching two assists in his 11 appearances. He's a player who knows how to beat a man and but is remarkably strong in the air, which is something that the Blues are in desperate need of this season.

I'd like to think he would go straight into the side should he sign, though Dzagoev could take some time to settle in.

Comments

[Alan Frank]

Chelsea were seriously looking at Alan Dzagoev 5 seasons ago as an 18 year old. He was an impressive young player of great promise but never quite lived up to expectation. He secured a position in the Russian National team at a time when it has been in decline. I really cannot see Chelsea forking out money this summer for midfield players. Ever watchful now on Financial Fair Play rules Chelsea's big expenditure this summer is likely to be two new strikers. The both of which you could bet your house on will be very expensive. There is also a strong liklihood that Chelsea will move on a Luke Shaw deal and as the lad is only 18 he will cost Chelsea a lot of money particularly considering United and City will be monitoring events closely. We already have a player in the form of Lucas Piazon (currently out on loan in Holland) who is a far better prospect than Alan Dzagoev and who already belongs to our club. We also have excellent young talent in the form of Lewis Baker, John Swift, Nathan Ake, Nathanial Chilobah and free scoring forward Patrick Bamford (on loan at Derby) all champing at the bit for a first team squad place. I believe that Roman Abramovich and his Chelsea board this summer will be looking to bring in two class and expensive strikers for Jose together with Luke Shaw and that will be their total spending. I also believe that they will partially off set the clubs expenditure by selling players like Ba, Torres, Marin, Mikel and Bertrand (all for a fee) and will clear Ashley Cole off of the wage bill too. They may even consider selling Petr Cech for a decent fee if Jose or the club feel it more important to keep Courtoise as our future number one. Otherwise I can see them adding the sale money from Courtoise into the pot to help balance the books. Having already bought and paid for Zouma and with the introduction of the excellent Chelsea youngsters I have already mentioned, two expensive striker signings in the form of players like Cavani (PSG) and Diego Costa (Athletico) together with Saints full back Luke Shaw could see Roman's wallet close. Neither of the two CSKA players are of the standard that Jose will be hoping to add to our squad strength for next term IMHO.