Ramires the key to Chelsea landing Lampard replacement from Juve
Published:Despite starting the bulk of Premier League and Champions League games for Jose Mourinho this season, Ramires could well be sacrificed this summer in order for Chelsea to land one of the most revered midfielders in world football.
Juventus’ Arturo Vidal has seen his name fill the gossip pages with increasing regularity over the course of recent transfer windows and that’s no different now with Sunday red-tops reporting that the Stamford Bridge club, who are 9/2 to win the Champions League this season, are readying a £20m offer.
Considering Vidal, a fully fledged box-to-box midfielder, is often spoke of among the world’s best players though, £20m isn’t likely to be enough to tempt Juventus into parting ways with the Chilean.
That’s why Ramires is potentially being offered up as a makeweight in the deal and although the Brazilian has done nothing in west London to cast doubts over his ability, does not stand up well in comparison to Vidal.
26-year-old Vidal makes 4.2 tackles per game for Juventus compared to the 2.8 of Ramires, while attempting 1.8 key passes per match as opposed to 1.1 for the former Benfica man.
The Brazilian, whose temper is getting him into increasing bother, only has one Premier League goal to his name this term, while Vidal has struck 11 times for the Turin club in Serie A alone.
That Vidal takes penalties for the Old Lady only furthers the thinking that he could be Frank Lampard’s long term replacement at Stamford Bridge and with the kind of goal return Vidal is showing in Italy, Chelsea fans can only lick their lips with excitement at that thought.
At 35-years-old, Lampard’s career in Chelsea’s midfield has a limited shelf life and having secured their defensive midfielder of the future in Nemanja Matic, the Blues only need to replace the former West Ham man in order to complete their next gen central band.
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