€50m defender would break all of Chelsea’s rules – but could be perfect fit | OneFootball

Chelsea are stepping up their chase for a top central defender, it seems.

With current options proving too injury prone or just not good enough, the club are banking on a major sell off of talent to create space in the squad and in the budget to buy a premier option.

The names mentioned so far include Marc Guehi and Dean Huijsen, and it seems like we can add another player to that list. The generally reliable FootMercato in France are saying that Bayern Munich Kim Min-jae could be next on the list.

The South Korea star made a €50m move to Bavaria just two years ago as one of the most coveted central defenders in Europe after looking great with Napoli. He’s struggled a little in the Bundesliga, and now looks like an asset they’d be willing to sell on as they continue to rebuild under Vincent Kompany.

Chelsea, along with Newcastle, are among the Premier League teams said to be interested, with an unnamed Serie A club also on the list. Kim is big, strong and composed on the ball, and would appear to be an instant upgrade to our backline.

Chelsea would have to bend their rules – but it could be the right thing to do

Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart with Behdad Eghbali.

Kim is 28, so would be older than the usual players we’re targeting. However it’s somewhat believable that our sporting directors would be willing to bend their rules to get some elite experience in, now they’re several years into seeing what a mistake it is to only sign players under 21.

Signing Kim still seems like an option not nearly as good as signing the rising Huijsen or the homegrown and Premier League experienced Guehi, but it’s certainly worthwhile to have another avenue open given both those deals could be hard to complete.