Ornstein: “There is no ‘rule'” – Chelsea push for elite defender shows anything is possible this summer | OneFootball

Sometimes in football the transfers which don’t happen are as interesting and revealing as those that do, and in his chat with NBC Sport yesterday, top transfer guru David Ornstein really showed why that is the case.

They were asking him about Virgil Van Dijk, the 33 year old defender who has finally ended a year of speculation by signing a two year contract at Liverpool.

According to Ornstein, while his future was up in the air, Chelsea were in the mix, despite how much signing a player in their mid 30s on huge wages would go against their current philosophy of targeting young players:

“There was interest from Chelsea in signing Virgil Van Dijk if he had become available, but ultimately he only had eyes for Liverpool. And that shows there is no ‘rule’ on only signing under 23 players at Stamford Bridge as some have suggested,” Ornstein explained.

“Yes their recruitment has been young, they’ve got the youngest average squad in the Premier League this season. I think they’re looking for impact players, whether that be younger or indeed older, and that’s where somebody of Van Dijk’s calibre [would fit in] – it’s not about them being older and more experienced, it’s just about their quality.”

Chelsea will policy continues with flexibility

Tosin Adarabioyo holds up a shirt at Stamford Bridge.

It shows there’s no hard and fast rule about not signing older players, it’s just a general philosophy. We already saw evidence of the flexibility in that arrangement this time a year ago when we moved for Tosin Adarabioyo, then 27.

The fact that Tosin was on a free transfer (as Van Dijk would have been) is what makes the crucial difference here. Part of the reason we’re focused on younger players is so that they have resale value, and so we don’t take a “book loss” on them if they leave. Older players you’re more likely to take a loss – but if they arrive on a free, there’s no fee to be accounted as a negative.