Why is Chelsea spending so much on a new center-back? Following news that the Blues have agreed to pay AS Monaco €38 million to recruit center-back Benoit Badiashile, who is 21 years old, many fans have this issue on their minds.
Benoit Badiashile, a center back for AS Monaco
The Blues lost two center-backs last summer, but they were quickly replaced by Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana. If you count Cesar Azpilicueta and Marc Cucurella, who can both play in that position, there are now six first-team center-backs at the club.
It is not difficult to understand why another center-back needs to be acquired. Due to Fofana’s persistent knee ailment, which requires time to recover, the team has placed an uncomfortably high reliance on center defender Thiago Silva, 38. The Brazilian center-back in a league like the Premier League shouldn’t be playing twice a week at that age, but he does.
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The club is also aware that Thiago Silva, Koulibaly, and Azpilicueta are all older than 30 and have passed their prime. As a result, they will soon need to replace them, and it makes sense to sign replacements while all three of the current players are still on the field for the team.
In a similar move, Real Madrid acquired Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga while Toni Kroos and Luka Modric were still a part of their starting lineup. The advantage is that it provides the youthful athletes time to adjust and the chance to absorb knowledge from more seasoned peers. Chelsea made a wise choice.