Chelsea told they missed out on ‘fantastic’ deadline-day signing

Former Chelsea midfielder Jody Morris says he would have ‘loved’ to have seen the club sign Manu Kone from Roma this summer.

Kone emerged as a top target for Chelsea as the Premier League giants scoured the transfer market for a central midfielder to fill the void left by the Manchester City-bound Enzo Fernandez.

In the early hours of deadline day, reports emanating out of Italy suggested the Blues were on the cusp of a £52million agreement to sign the 25-year-old France international.

Chelsea and Roma had also been discussing a possible deal that would have seen Jamie Gittens head in the opposite direction on a season-long loan.

However, these talks ultimately came to nothing and Xabi Alonso was left without a like-for-like replacement for Fernandez for the new season.

The west London giants had also explored the possibility of bringing in Lamine Camara but a proposed move for the Monaco star collapsed in spectacular fashion at the eleventh hour.

Asked if Chelsea may perhaps lack strength in depth in the middle of the park after Tuesday’s dramatic turn of events, Morris told Sky Sports: ‘We’re maybe slightly short.

‘I would have loved us to be able to get Kone from Roma, obviously I think we made a play for him.

‘I think he’s a fantastic midfielder and I think he would have complemented what we already have.

‘I don’t think we’re short in that we’ll struggle, I think we’ve got enough in there.

‘But the fact that we played Malo Gusto in there in the previous game is a little bit of an alarm bell but I imagine that’s more to do with not playing Reece James in there for a third game in a week.

‘I can see us being okay in that position but I suppose when you lose a quality player that has produced with goals and assists, it would have been nice to bring another body in.

‘But I don’t think we’ll be short and if I’m being completely honest, if it does look like we’re short then I’m sure we’ll go out in January and add to the group.’

Morris is, on the whole, satisfied with Chelsea’s transfer dealings and believes those in charge deserve ‘credit’ for bolstering Alonso’s first-squad.

On Chelsea’s £125m agreement for Fernandez, Morris said: ‘I was surprised with the amount of money we got but I suppose I should be that surprised considering all the other transfers that have happened.

‘But if you’d have said to me six weeks ago that we would get a British transfer record for Enzo Fernandez then I just wouldn’t have believed you.

‘I thought we’d struggle to get close to what we paid for him to be honest.

‘But I think the fact every other club has been spending surprisingly high obviously helped us.

‘You’ve got to give credit to whoever is doing the negotiating at Chelsea at the moment because we seem to be getting some decent numbers through the doors when you consider that we’re moving on players.’

Morris, who served as Frank Lampard’s assistant at Stamford Bridge, believes Chelsea managed to negotiate themselves a ‘good deal’ for Fernandez.

‘I imagine Alonso wouldn’t want a player hanging around who doesn’t want to be there,’ he added.

‘It’s good money and it’s probably best for all parties involved.

‘The player has got to where he wants to go… well, maybe he wanted to go to Real Madrid and that didn’t quite come off.

‘But he’s obviously gone to Manchester City with his former manager and Chelsea have got a good deal for him.’

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