Chelsea Transfers: Predicting Jose Mourinho's Buys & Starting 11

5. Raphael Varane

varane With John Terry in the twilight of his career, Chelsea need to inject a bit more youth at centreback and build for an inevitable future without the former England captain, and one such player who fits that bill is 20-year old centrehalf Raphael Varane. The youngster has already cracked the Real Madrid starting XI in spite of his tender years and has been called upon for some massive games already this season, particularly in the Champions League. The Frenchman has a good working relationship with Mourinho and recently credited his manager with providing him the opportunity to prove himself in the first team. There's little doubting he's one of the best young centrebacks in Europe today and if Mourinho can coerce him into moving to West London, the Blues would have a defender with his best years stretched out in front of him.
Contributor
Contributor

Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.