Five players Chelsea could have gone after with Messi fund

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Lionel Messi could have joined Chelsea last summer with Adidas offering to put £105 million towards the deal.

That offer from Adidas means that Chelsea would have had to come up with their own share of £105 million, just to meet the buy out clause in Messi’s current Barcelona contract, valued at £210 million.

It would have been an absolutely amazing deal and one which would have rocked the football world, with Chelsea securing the future of one of the greatest players to have ever graced the game.

However, the football realists will point to the players Chelsea could have gone after over the summer with that £105 million, players who could have all advanced the team in their own way, avoiding the difficulties that a deal for Messi would have produced.


Here’s a selection.
Gareth Bale
Chelsea could have got a £100 million offer on the table for Gareth Bale before Real Madrid got their act together and before Manchester United decided to put in a cheeky bid.

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Bale eventually joined Real Madrid in an £85 million deal but needless to say had Bale been tempted to West London, it would have been a perfect way for Chelsea to get one over on local rivals Spurs.

Falcao
Former Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao moved to AS Monaco in a deal worth €60 million.
Considering it has been suggested that Chelsea need a prolific centre forward to lead their attack in the Premier League and Champions League, that hefty fee might not have been such a bad piece of business after all.

Edinson Cavani
Cavani went from Napoli to Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth a little more than Falcao’s move to Monaco at €64 million.

Similarly to Falcao, Cavani could have slotted into the Chelsea attack and done a superb job up front for the team in all competitions, with the Blues getting a player extremely experienced in terms of top flight domestic and European football.
See also: Striker misses Chelsea training, is doubt for Schalke clash

Robert Lewandowski
It’s amazing that Chelsea didn’t make a big bid for the Polish striker over the summer, when recent reports have suggested they are willing to offer Borussia Dortmund £7 million to sign him this winter.
Considering the calibre of clubs interested in Lewandowski and the very realistic chance that he could stay in Germany, it could be very difficult for the Blues to get the Pole to agree to a deal before his contract at Dortmund expires next summer.

Raphael Varane
It’s not all about the attack players as Chelsea could have launched a big bid with £105 million to sign Raphael Varane from Jose Mourinho’s former club Real Madrid.

His fee would have been substantially lower than that £105 million and worth it as Varane is rated as one of the best defensive prospects in European and world football, a natural long term successor to John Terry.