Chelsea have renewed their hopes of signing Benfica star Fabio Coentrao after it emerged that his move to Real Madrid is on the verge of collapse. Real boss Jose Mourinho had agreed a £21 million fee for the left-back before the deal stalled. Benfica chairman Luis Filipe Vieira is now demanding that the Spanish giants trigger the defender's £25m release clause if they still want him. Mourinho is a big fan of the player but it remains to be seen whether he would be willing to be held to ransom over his transfer after already having a deal agreed. New Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is hoping to be the beneficiary of the confusion by snapping up the 23-year-old. Villas-Boas' interest would not signal the end of Ashley Cole's career at Stamford Bridge. The versatile Coentrao can also play in midfield and would initially be cover for Cole.
Its Mick's newsbot which he thinks is upping the profile of Not606, judging by all the negative comments they receive I would say he's misinformed. Chelsea have now been linked to every player in Europe during this silly season and the press are desperate for new revelations!
He's just gone to Madrid for 27 million. Think we've dodged a bullet there if the interest was genuine. He's a very good player and young but I think left back is one position we shouldn't be looking at with Cole, Zhirkov, Van Aarnholt and Bertrand. That's also a hell of a lot of money for a full back (he's average as a midfielder). I think only Cole and the Brazilian pair are worth that sort of cash. Baines would be a better bet if we really want another left back, he'd be cheaper and he's english.
I agree totally. Left back is one of our strongest positions and we could do with selling Zhirkov as Bertrand and Van Aarnholt are perfectly good cover for Ashley.
