Sami Khedira And Isco Chelsea?

The reports emerging from the Real Madrid rumour mill grow ever more preposterous. First, it was announced that the Spanish giants were prepared to offer £25 million for Chelsea midfielder Ramires – an offer which we on this website suggested the Blues should bite their hand off for.

Now it is being suggested that Real are prepared to offer Sami Khedira and Isco in exchange for the Brazilian – in fact, they’re apparently being offered to get Chelsea to lower their price.

Let’s unpick this a little. Khedira is an established German international with 46 caps, one of the stars of the team at the last World Cup and a regular in the Real Madrid side. The German team coach Joachim Low and the former Real Madrid boss – one Jose Mourinho – considered his defensive midfield skills and his box-to-box dynamism indispensible. Real were rumoured to have put a £36 million price tag on his head.

Isco is a young, up and coming attacking midfielder, on the cusp of the Spanish national side, with an excellent scoring record and a glowing reputation.

Ramires, on the other hand, is… where do we start? He works hard, he’s incredibly fast, he closes down opponents well, gets forward quickly and occasionally scores outstanding goals. At the same time, his passing can be woeful, he gives the ball away too often, and his rash tackling has landed the team and himself in trouble too often for comfort. So why would Real be prepared to offer two of their star midfielders for him?

There is an argument which runs like this:

First, Ancelotti is a huge fan of Ramires and brought him to Chelsea in the first place.

Second, Khedira suffered a horrific knee injury this season which kept him out for five months and nearly threatened his participation in the World Cup. He made his comeback for Real in May, but there may be lingering doubts about how the injury has affected him and whether he will be able to reach the same standard.

Third, Isco has found his chances at Real limited because of an overabundance of midfield players at the club. Ancelotti has blamed this on Real’s 4-3-3 style and promised him things will change, but is there really any sign of this actually happening?

In other words, Real may be looking to offload a possible crock and a bench-warmer for a player whom the manager really rates. On the face of it, this rumour appears ridiculous – but it’s just possible there could be a kernel of truth at its heart.

If there is, surely Jose Mourinho should be in absolutely no doubt as to what to do. A fit Khedira is far superior to Ramires, who will be lucky to get more than the odd game anyway if Fabregas arrives. Isco offers something that none of our midfielders bar Hazard does – regular goals. If Madrid are really offering the two of them PLUS cash for Ramires, then Mourinho should offer to take Ramires to Spain personally. If he won’t, I will.