Matt Law: Chelsea miss out on top defender target because of a lower salary offer | OneFootball

Things are not trending in the right direction in terms of transfers for Chelsea right now.

It all seemed to be lining up nicely for them to land their top targets both up front and at the back, with both Liam Delap and Dean Huijsen available via their release clauses and apparently both ready to make the move.

Madrid offer more money as Chelsea slip behind

Dean Huijsen with Enzo Maresca inlay. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

But yesterday news broke on several fronts that they could miss out on Delap to Man U, and Huijsen to Real Madrid. In the latter case, the ever reliable Matt Law has provided a full on update for the Telegraph:

“Chelsea had been considered favourite to land Huiijsen… but Madrid have now moved ahead of Chelsea in the queue,” Law wrote in his piece today.

There is “no suggestion that Chelsea have given up on their interest,” but Madrid are “prepared to offer a significantly higher guaranteed salary” than we are. They see him as a potential foundational piece for incoming manager Xabi Alonso’s new team.

Well, if you’re a Spain international being offered more money than Real Madrid than you are by Chelsea, it’s not a very difficult decision. Chelsea may not have given up, but at this rate they may as well.

Chelsea need to pivot quickly as summer closes

After a moment where it looked like the Bournemouth defender was going to be ours, this is very disappointing. However it always felt like Huijsen would do anything possible to move to Madrid, and in the end it doesn’t look like we’re going to come close to signing him.

At least we can now move on and focus on other targets. We’re playing in the Club World Cup in less than a month.