Blues hesitate to pay €70m for defensive target
Chelsea transfer news: The Blues have made Crystal Palace centre-back Maxence Lacroix their absolute prime target to fix a leaky defensive line. Xabi Alonso wants him. The player wants the move. According to a fresh report from Transfer Feed, the Stamford Bridge hierarchy is actively trying to breathe life into a summer rebuild by bringing the 26-year-old Frenchman across the capital. It has injected immediate drama into a window that was starting to look a bit stagnant. But there is a problem. Negotiations are stalling, and the hierarchy in West London is getting jittery. Palace are digging their heels in.
Chelsea transfer news: South London star Maxence Lacroix wanted
They know what they have. The Selhurst Park executives have kicked their initial €55m valuation into touch, now demanding a hefty €65-70m. They are well aware that rival European scouts are sniffing around the dynamic centre-half. A bidding war suits them perfectly. Lacroix was colossal last term. He racked up 35 Premier League appearances, chipped in with a goal and two assists, and clocked over 3,000 minutes on the pitch. Add another 1,035 minutes in the UEFA Conference League, where he anchored the backline all the way to lifting the trophy. Stalling tactics risk everything
Delaying this gives rival suitors a massive window of opportunity. While Chelsea dither over the extra cash, the door stands wide open for European heavyweights to hijack the deal. Alonso desperately needs elite enforcers. 52 league goals conceded last season tells its own story. Lacroix, fresh from a World Cup semi-final run against Spain with France, has the recovery pace and physical presence to transform this backline.
VF’s take:
Chelsea just need to pay the premium. Lacroix completely transformed Palace last year. Letting a priority target slip through the fingers over a €15m valuation gap is a terrible strategy. It is the same old hesitation we see every summer, and it usually ends with another club stealing the prize.
Rohit Sarkar
