Agent of Barcelona star Sergino Dest addresses Chelsea transfer rumours
Speaking to Ran (h/t Express), Barcelona defender Sergino Dest‘s agent Michael Reschke has insisted that his client is happy in Catalonia, with links to Chelsea unlikely to come to fruition during the winter transfer window.
Dest joined Barcelona in 2020 from Ajax Amsterdam and has since done well during his time in Spain. The 19-year-old has gone on to make 57 appearances for the Catalan club in the space of just 15 months. While he can certainly do better, he has shown enough promise to garner interest from other top sides.
Amongst the European clubs interested in Dest are Chelsea, who are in the transfer market in search of a right-back, but Reschke has played down any rumours of a move away for the youngster.
“Sergino feels good in Barcelona. It’s a great club. That’s why it’s actually rather unlikely at the moment.”
At just 21, Dest boasts impressive traits such as athleticism, attacking nous, and excellent technical qualities, making him one of the most sought-after defenders in the world at the moment. The USA international has been going from strength to strength at Barcelona, and the Catalan club are well aware that they have a superb young option on their ranks.
Tuchel is currently managing a defensive crisis at Chelsea, having lost full-backs Ben Chilwell and Reece James for a lengthy period of the season. Apart from the defensive injury concerns, the German coach is also battling the huge issue of potentially losing three key defenders in the summer, as senior stars Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, and Cesar Azpilicueta are all out of contract next summer.
Given this, defensive reinforcements are a priority for Tuchel in the next few months, but his quest to sign Dest appear to have hit a brick wall. This is after the American’s agent shut down whispers of a move away from Barcelona. Tuchel also saw an approach for ex-Everton star Lucas Digne rejected before the Frenchman moved to Aston Villa last week.
The news about Dest’s move away from Barcelona being squashed by his agent is sure to be a big blow to us. We have been reeling under the multiple injuries and Covid concerns that have hampered the club, and the repeated links to Dest gave us hope that a move for the defender was highly likely in January.
The US international’s unavailability means we need to look elsewhere to plug in the gap left by James. Club captain Azpilicueta is putting in a solid shift as usual in place of the right-back, but with the Spaniard’s contract also expiring in the summer, we are once again short of defensive cover.
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Dest could have represented a superb young option for us to take on as a potential asset in the future. These dreams have now been dashed by the player’s agent, and we will once again have to enter the transfer market to look for potential full-backs.
Luckily, James is not out for the entire season, so we can hope to have him back sooner rather than later. Whether we will continue to pursue Dest or change tracks come next summer remains to be seen.