The term never go back is a phrase often used in football, and although it sometimes proves true, a lot of the time it works just fine. A manager who is said to be ready to snap up one of his former players is Jose Mourinho, who has been linked with a move for Real Madrid’s Fabio Coentrao – a player he worked with at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Portuguese left-back has been a target for Manchester United over the last few months but nothing has transpired, and with Ashley Cole not getting any younger and his performances seemingly not getting any better, Chelsea fans may not have to wait long until the arrival of a new full-back.
Coentrao has only player four La Liga games this term under Carlo Ancelotti and has averaged five defensive actions per appearance.
He’s created two chances, won 9/13 of his tackles and looked fairly comfortable in most of his outings. For me, though, the Blues should be concentrating on landing Southampton’s Luke Shaw, who is also said to be a Chelsea fan.
Coentrao isn’t the quickest player, he’s not the strongest player and he doesn’t have the best technical ability, but his positioning is superb, his awareness has always been impressive and he knows when not to dive in.
They could do a lot worse, in my opinion, and perhaps Mourinho can get the best out of him in west London, but if he doesn’t work out then it’s only a loan deal.