Why Chelsea fans are FURIOUS at selling €24m Guehi

Stefan Bienkowski

• 15 Jul 2021 17:37 BST
• 3 min read

When it comes to buying players, few clubs like to splash the cash in the transfer market quite like Chelsea.

However, to help fund those big-money signings every year, the club tends to hoard dozens of young talents and will happily sell them on for a tidy profit to finance the first team.

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While most players that leave Stamford Bridge aren’t good enough for the starting XI, there have been some notable departures that have come back to bite Chelsea in the behind.

Romelu Lukaku’s sale to Everton, before moving on to Manchester United and Inter is one example. Kevin de Bruyne’s departure for Wolfsburg, only to then win multiple league titles with Manchester City is another.

And when it comes to the current crop many Chelsea fans fear Marc Guehi may be the latest example of such poor judgement. The club really shouldn’t be looking to sell the young defender this summer.

Guehi is really quite good

First and foremost, the main reason why Chelsea shouldn’t be selling Guehi to Crystal Palace is the simple fact that he’s actually a very good player.

After working his way through Chelsea’s youth academy at astonishing speed, Guehi proved his worth at a very good level with Swansea in the English Championship.

First in the second half of the 2019/20 season and then once again for the full duration of the previous campaign, Guehi was one half of one of the division’s most impressive defensive lines and helped Swansea earn a spot in the play-offs.

The central defender hasn’t tested himself at Premier League level just yet, but it’s clear from the interest in him and what he’s already shown in the Championship that he’ll likely thrive there too.

Chelsea could use some central defenders

What’s even more frustrating for Chelsea fans than a talented player leaving the club is a talented player leaving the club that plays in a position that clearly needs reinforcing this summer.

Thomas Tuchel may have Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger and Thiago Silva to call upon next season, but it’s worth bearing in mind that all three players have contracts that expire next summer and there’s no guarantee that they’ll all stay put in the next 12 months.

Add to that the underwhelming cover players like Kurt Zouma or Malang Sarr provide and it makes no sense as to why a talent like Guehi can’t be fast tracked to the first team to help boster a back line in desperate need of it.