Chelsea and Everton have both made €35m (£31m) bids for Lille centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes according to reports in the English media.
The Brazilian defender faced the Blues twice in the Champions League group stages earlier this season, and it appears that manager Frank Lampard was suitably impressed to make him a transfer target.
However, supporters on Twitter are far from convinced that Gabriel will be an improvement on what they already have in defence:
Another papi Djilobodji
— Bagzy ® (@ikemichael640) March 28, 2020
Chelsea doing summer business early. You love to see it.
— UnitedBallGame (@UnitedBallGame) March 29, 2020
@ChelseaFC should go for an established center back
— Just_Lity (@Larry__Donald) March 29, 2020
Another team we played this season in champs league another player targeted by lamps
— cheeser (@cheeser28) March 28, 2020
seen him like couple times was nothing really different than the 4 center backs we already have, maybe only difference that he is left footed if anybody seen him more is he even that good enough to make difference in our defense system?
— Shed Boy (@Denz3lKoi) March 28, 2020
He looks solid, reads the game well and his tackles are precise and clean
— TROYˡᶤᶬᶤᵗᵉᵈ (@TravisTroyy) March 28, 2020
Another Matt Maizga
Let's stop this please— Matthew Funom Praiz (@FunomPraiz) March 28, 2020
Seen him a couple of times……a bit too clumsy but good with recovery.Doesnt have a cool head sometimes. Reminds me of Zouma.
— World…..Get well Soon ⏱ (@fringeworx) March 29, 2020
We only sign players we have played against
— ? (@CFCEno) March 29, 2020
We played Lille twice he didn't stand out, hopefully he was just having a bad game ???
— Wuhan Matter (@Nixo_xo) March 29, 2020
The centre-half is only 22 years of age, and he certainly wouldn’t offer the experience that some fans believe the Blues backline desperately needs.
One thing that Gabriel does have going in his favour is the fact he is left-footed, which would offer Lampard a different option to all of his other centre-backs who are predominantly right-footed.
Lille’s defence has also been pretty rock solid this season, having conceded 27 goals in 28 league games but whether he has what it takes to be a success in the Premier League, we shall see.
