Chelsea need to sign €80m attacking midfielder as perfect Cole Palmer complement | OneFootball

Cole Palmer’s persistent injury problems are making it very clear that Chelsea simply don’t have a suitable replacement for the England star.

Enzo Maresca has been using the attacker consistently despite a chronic groin problem. The only reason the manager is endangering his star player’s future like that is because he doesn’t feel he has an adequate replacement.

Chelsea still need top level Palmer backup to take pressure off midfielder

Andrey Santos comes on for Cole Palmer. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

That’s only natural – Palmer is that good that it would be hard to find someone to back him up. But Facundo Buonanotte on loan from Brighton is not close, despite his first goal for the club in midweek.

One person who might have the potential to reach Palmer’s level, or close to it, is Kenan Yildiz of Juventus.

Chelsea have been linked with him before, and strong rumours connected the Blues with a move for the 20 year old a year ago. And now the Palmer groin injury saga is drawing Yildiz back into the story.

Arsenal join chase for Juventus attacking midfielder

Now CaughtOffside are reporting that Arsenal are interested too. But their recent signings of Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke should mean they’re covered in attacking areas for now, even while Martin Odegaard is out.

Chelsea on the other hand, despite all their spending in the last few years, still don’t have elite players to step in when Palmer is out.

The problem now is Yildiz’s price. While Juve’s demands a year ago or perhaps even this summer would have been manageable, the €80m-100m being asked for now is unrealistic. Chelsea need to make sure they’re back in the Champions League this season, and they need to keep selling players from their first team squad if they want to make moves like this.