According to reports from The Daily Mail yesterday evening, Chelsea could make an emergency loan bid for Manchester United’s Victor Valdes if goalkeeper Asmir Begovic is injured or suspended before the January transfer window.
What’s the word?
A surgery-requiring knee injury inflicted earlier this month has seen Chelsea No.1 Thibaut Courtois ruled out until December, leaving only two goalkeepers in Jose Mourinho’s registered Premier League squad; former England U19 Jamal Blackman and £8million summer signing Asmir Begovic.
Despite the Blues enduring the second-worst goals conceded column in the division, the Bosnian international has certainly impressed whilst filling in for Courtois, making 13 saves in four Premier League appearances. But if he’s unavailable through injury or suspension the Premier League champions will be dependent on Blackman, who has made just one senior appearance to date – a Capital One Cup outing whilst on loan at Middlesbrough last season.
Resultantly, Jose Mourinho is already drafting up potential candidates for an emergency loan in fear of possible worst-case scenarios according to The Daily Mail, who claim that along with Atletico Madrid’s Miguel Angel Moya, Inter Milan’s Juan Pablo Carrizo and Porto’s Helton, Manchester United’s ostracised former World Cup winner Victor Valdes is on the list.
How does the emergency loan work?
According to Football-League.co.uk, section 6 of the FA rules states: “If all the professional goalkeepers at a Club are either certified by an independent medical practitioner as being unfit to play or are suspended, a Club may register a further goalkeeper on a short term Emergency Loan in accordance with the following provisions:
- The Executive shall allow a Club to sign such a goalkeeper for a period of 7 days, inclusive of the starting date and finishing date;
- Any such short term Emergency Loan shall be subject to The League, in appropriate circumstances, having received (including by facsimile) the appropriate medical certificate(s) together with the appropriate form(s) for his registration not later than 3 hours prior to kick off and the Executive having confirmed that the circumstances conform to the provisions of this Regulation;
- The period of any short term Emergency Loan of a goalkeeper may be renewed for 7 days at a time but further medical certification must be provided on each occasion.
That suggests the Premier League may insist Chelsea depend on Blackman. They turned down Newcastle’s request for an emergency loan last December following injuries to Tim Krul and Rob Elliot, because they already had two eligible goalkeepers, Jak Alnwick and Freddie Woodman, as well as Nottingham-Forest-loaned Karl Darlow, on the books.
But in 2010, Manchester City were allowed to sign Sunderland’s Marton Fulop for the remaining three games of the season following injuries to Shay Given and Stuart Taylor, despite the availability of Faroe Islands No.1 Gunnar Nielsen.
So qualifying for an emergency loan would essentially rest upon the Premier League’s assessment of Blackman and whether they see forcing Chelsea to play him as an unfair disadvantage. It could be argued that the Blues should be denied an emergency loan because they selected and registered Blackman as their third-choice keeper at the start of the season. It’s why every registered Premier League squad must include three goalkeepers.
Would United let Valdes leave?
The former Barcelona No.1 is clearly surplus to requirements at Old Trafford and indeed came close to leaving during the summer, Louis van Gaal claiming in July that he’d been put on the transfer list after refusing to represent United’s U21 squad last season. The Spain international was on the verge of joining Besiktas in the final week of the transfer window but the move fell through, allegedly due to wage demands.
David De Gea signed a new contract with the Red Devils after his Real Madrid transfer collapsed, whilst LVG added Sergio Romero to his squad on a free transfer during the summer. Highly-rated youngster Sam Johnstone, meanwhile, impressed on United’s pre-season tour and continues to lurk in the background, so United are hardly short of goalkeeping personnel. Likewise, Valdes is yet to make the Red Devils bench this season.
That being said, the 33 year-old was surprisingly included in United’s registered Premier League squad (along with De Gea, Johnstone and Romero) and you can’t imagine van Gaal willingly strengthening a direct divisional rival when other options are available to Chelsea.
On the other hand, the interests of fair competition could bring out the Iron Tulip’s more charitable side – but that seems pretty unlikely.
Also in the news this week:
Chelsea to beat Spurs to 6 foot 2 battering ram with £20m bid
Liverpool line up January swoop for Primeira Liga prodigy
Man United disappoint six clubs by holding onto youngster
Record-breaker set to sign terms with Arsenal
[ad_pod id=’video’ align=’center’]