“It might have been better at Chelsea” – Is summer transfer target regretting not coming to Stamford Bridge?

Chelsea were linked with a transfer for Aleksandr Golovin all summer, especially after some impressive showings for Russia at the World Cup.
At times it seemed like a done deal, with Goal.com’s Chelsea correspondent Nizaar Kinsella actually reporting it as certain at one point.

Golovin will be Chelsea's first signing of the summer. #CFC

— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) June 28, 2018

In the end he went to AS Monaco though, and it’s not clear whether that was because Chelsea didn’t stump up the required cash or whether Golovin chose to go somewhere he was more likely to play.

The team from the south of France have had a really poor start to the season however, and SportWitness have translated quotes from a Russian journalist who is questioning whether it was the right move:

“We thought he was going to start strong. But Monaco is 18th, while Golovin played good matches. So, we ask ourselves questions and we think that it might have been better in Chelsea,” said football writer Yaloslav Susov.


To be fair, while it hasn’t gone too well in France, there’s no guarantee it would have gone any differently at Chelsea. We’ve got a stocked midfield, and Golovin would likely just  have been riding the bench so far.