Chelsea’s two excuses for why they didn’t sign bargain England star this month | OneFootball

While Chelsea close in on a €70m deal to sign Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes, another one of the big spenders in the Premier League have also bought a defender.

Man City just snapped up former Chelsea man Marc Guehi for €20m from Crystal Palace. Given he’s older, more experienced, knows the league, is cheaper and a home grown player, why didn’t the Blues at least try to sign him? Simon Johnson has the answer in his piece for the Athletic today.

Why Chelsea didn’t move for Guehi

Marc Guehi signs for Man City.

“Re-signing academy graduate Marc Guehi, who has now joined Manchester City from Crystal Palace, was not a possibility,” he wrote.

“Even though the transfer fee taking him to Manchester is just £20million, there are other costs involved which make this deal a lot more expensive than that. It was not just a financial decision, though. As much as Guehi is respected as a player, Chelsea are looking for a centre-back with different attributes than those he provides.”

It sounds like excuses coming directly from the sporting directors to Johnson’s ear, frankly. “He’s too expensive… and we didn’t want him anyway.”

There’s no doubt that Jacquet looks a top prospect, but the way Man City have snapped up two great Premier League performers in Guehi and Antoine Semenyo, both of whom Chelsea were linked to this month, for relatively low fees, is more than a little frustrating.

In other news…

On the other end of the deal, it seems like the Jacquet move has been dreamt up for some time. Despite not signing a defender in the summer, Chelsea left the door open for it to happen this month.

Chelsea are looking for a defender this month, meanwhile a player they had on their books for free has just joined Man City. It’s a painful reminder of some of our bad decisions in the past.