€25.75m wonderkid bid will tell fans everything about Chelsea’s transfer philosophy | OneFootball

Reports are blooming all over the internet that Chelsea are very close to signing Palmeiras wonderkid Estevao Willian. Continuing our project of the last couple of years, we’re looking to hoover up yet another exceptional Brazilian talent.

Despite his outrageous ability, this move is generating some debate because of the players we’ve already got on the books. Left footed right wingers? Cole Palmer is our star player, Noni Madueke is coming on nicely at long last, Kendry Paez is looking incredible as we await his move to Europe, Omari Hutchinson has done well in the Championship… this list goes on.

Should we be investing more money in that sort of player when we’ve already got numerous options in that position? It’s well established that we need to sell players before we buy more of them. The €30m (£27.75m)  starting fee for the 17 year old would rip through our budget for the summer, when we desperately need options in central defence, an upgrade in goal and a top centre forward too.

Estevao Willian signs a professional deal.

A question of philosophy

In the end it comes down to the way you balance two things against each other. Do you go for the best player and ignore the needs of the squad, or do you prioritise building a team over the quality of an individual player? There is no right answer, and in an ideal world the squad you already have is so nicely balanced that you can afford to snatch any opportunity for a unique talent when it comes up. Clearly Chelsea aren’t at that stage yet, and we’ve still got numerous holes in the squad that need filling, while some positions have an excess of options.

This is a very extreme example – this is an exceptional talent regarded beyond anything else on the market, and we’re also in a pretty unusual log jam in that position. The response of the sporting directors to this issue will tell us a lot about our philosophy for the future.