Former Ajax player Wesley Sneijder has claimed to VI that Ajax should have taken Chelsea’s offer for Edson Alvarez this summer.
The Blues made a deadline day move for the central midfielder after deciding late in the window they still wanted to strengthen their options in the middle of the park.
They ended up bringing in Denis Zakaria on loan in the final hours of the transfer window, however it seems he was certainly not the option they were looking for.
The Swiss international has not featured once for the club, under either Thomas Tuchel or Graham Potter.
Alvarez was very keen on a move to Stamford Bridge. When interest in him became public, he skipped Ajax training in an attempt to force through a transfer.
Sneijder has now claimed that the Dutch champions could have become a much stronger team if they had taken the bid from Chelsea, which totalled £43m.
Sneijder wishes Alvarez had left
He said: “If you compare him [Berghuis] to Álvarez, for example… Then I can still play. It plays everything back or everything wide. It’s no use to you.’
“They should have brought it to London very quickly. You really could have brought back two good, nice players for that. ‘Do you really think he’s that special, in big matches?”
It is unclear as of yet whether the Blues will return for the Mexico international next year.
However, with rumours of signing elite options such as Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice not disappearing, they may be looking for a bigger name than the Ajax man
Despite this, they could be facing a midfield exodus in the summer. N’golo Kante and Jorginho both currently don’t have contracts which will last longer than this season.
New deals are not currently close to being signed for either man, and it could be a very different looking midfield at Stamford Bridge next season.
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