Chelsea's summer-long pursuit of defensive reinforcements prompted an
outlay close to £60m on transfer deadline day, with the eye-catching
return of David Luiz from Paris Saint-Germain complementing Marcos
Alonso's arrival from Fiorentina.
Antonio Conte, exasperated at seeing
interest in players such as Napoli's Kalidou
Koulibaly and Alessio Romagnoli of Milan
rejected, gave the green light to the return
of David Luiz for £34m, with further fees
due in future, after it emerged the Brazil
international had become unsettled at PSG. The centre-half was
expecting to find himself demoted behind his compatriots Marquinhos
and Thiago Silva at Parc des Princes and, two years after departing for
France in a deal potentially worth £50m, he made clear his desire to
return to London.
The 29-year-old has signed a three-year contract at Stamford Bridge,
where he claimed the FA Cup, Champions League and Europa League
during a three-and-a-half-year spell under the stewardships of Carlo
Ancelotti, André Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo, Rafael Benítez and
José Mourinho.
There had initially been reluctance among some members of the
hierarchy at Chelsea to bring David Luiz back to the club, with PSG
sounded out over Marquinhos and a possible loan move for Aymen
Abdennour at Valencia also explored, but Conte, so desperate to add to
his options and frustrated in the Italian market, eventually expressed a
willingness to restore the Brazilian to the ranks. That prompted a formal
approach to PSG.
The centre-half has always been a favourite with the Chelsea owner,
Roman Abramovich, and played 143 times for the club in that first spell.
Chelsea received encouragement from the player this week and,
eventually, from the Parisian club, after an offer worth £30m had been
knocked back. The player's agent, Kia Joorabchian, has worked closely
with Chelsea in the past on other deals – not least over Ramires, Alex,
Kenedy, Oscar and Matt Miazga – in partnership with Giuliano
Bertolucci – with agreement eventually reached with PSG for the
improved fee late on Wednesday afternoon.
There is an acceptance David Luiz's defending can be erratic at times but
his performance, despite carrying an injury, in the 2012 Champions
League final against Bayern Munich has marked him out as a significant
figure in Chelsea's recent past, with his reputation not damaged by his
eagerness to celebrate scoring against Chelsea for PSG in the Champions
League in 2015 . He is experienced, knows the Premier League and his
presence would allow Conte to explore the possibility of playing three
centre-halves, a system he utilised at Juventus and with Italy. The
Brazilian's charisma and influence off the pitch have been missed over
the past two years.
Alonso, a left-back, has signed a five-year contract after Chelsea reached
agreement with Fiorentina over a £23m move for the former Bolton
Wanderers and Sunderland defender. The Italian's arrival takes Chelsea's
spending on left-backs to around £57m since Ashley Cole departed in the
summer of 2014, albeit with some of that money recouped when Filipe
Luís returned to Atlético Madrid.
"I'm very happy: it's a step up in my career and I think this is the perfect
place for me to continue developing," Alonso said. "It's time for me to
win some titles. It was an easy decision to make when I heard the club
were interested. My family and close friends know Chelsea is the club I
have dreamed about playing for, so I'm really excited about the challenge
and I'm looking forward to working with my new team-mates."
Chelsea, who rejected an inquiry for Milan
as to the availability of Cesc Fàbregas, have
also continued to clear players from the
fringes of the club, with Juan Cuadrado
completing a return to Juventus, where he
spent last season, on a three-year loan with
an option to buy. The intricacies of the deal
will effectively see the Colombia forward join for an annual fee of €5m
(£4.25m) with Juve having the option to buy him permanently but also
obliged to complete a deal for €25m, minus the loan fees already paid, if
certain clauses are triggered by appearances. A further fee of €4m would
be applicable dependent on the club's success with Cuadrado in their
ranks.
Christian Atsu has joined Newcastle, Jake Clarke-Salter and Charlie
Colkett have moved to Bristol Rovers, Islam Feruz to Royal Mouscron,
Cristian Cuevas to Sint-Truidense, Miazga to Vitesse Arnhem and
Kenneth Omeruo has moved to Alanyaspor, all on season-long loan
moves. It takes the number of players to have left on loan this summer to
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