Advantage Chelsea As £250,000-A-Week Star Hints At Potential Move

Manchester City midfielder, Yaya Touré, claims he is open to leaving the Etihad for new challenges, and because he does not feel wanted in Manchester [Foot Mercato]. The Ivorian is said to be on Mourinho’s target list for this summer, and a move to Stamford Bridge would be a major shakeup in the Premier League. A midfield consisting of Cesc Fàbregas, Nemanja Matić, and Yaya Touré would be a perfect balance of offensive control, and defensive domination, totally running over teams in the middle of the pitch.

He said: “No amount of wages will make me stay at a club if I feel that I no longer belong there or if no challenge exists.”

Yaya Touré is not the same player he used to be, and being 31 years old his transfer value should be somewhere around £20million. Touré’s game dropped, especially defensively. Touré is making only two average defensive actions per appearance, compared to Nemanja Matić’s six defensive actions per appearance. If Touré was to come to London, Mourinho would certainly get him to track back more often. Having Touré roam the midfield would distract the opposition, providing Cesc an opportunity to get open and make key passes. But the sheer size of the Matić and Touré playing alongside each other is enough to make an opposing manager cringe, Matić standing at 6 feet 4 inches, and Touré being 6 feet 2 inches. Certainly Chelsea would benefit from signing Touré, but the question remains how much is he worth? He is certainly not worth the £250,000 a week contract he currently has with Manchester City, and he is not worth a transfer of anything more than £20million. But the chances of Pellegrini selling Touré to Mourinho for something around £20million are astoundingly low.

The 31 year old Ivorian also has links to big spenders, Inter Milan, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, and now Chelsea. With these four clubs involved, a large bid will be required to win the signature of Touré. Inter reportedly is ready to launch a £43.5million bid, which would blow any offer Mourinho had in mind out of the water. On top of the large bid, Inter has another hand up on all the other potential suitors for Touré’s signature, Roberto Mancini. Mancini signed Touré from Barcelona to Manchester City in 2010, and the two apparently still have a good relationship today, Touré saying that Mancini is a “special coach”.

Next season Chelsea supporters should not expect Yaya Touré to be playing in Stamford Bridge, but he will likely be playing for his former boss Roberto Mancini at Inter Milan.