Chelsea and Frank Lampard steal Lille starlet Gabriel Magalhaes

Chelsea have managed to atop Everton in the race for Lille’s Gabriel Magalhaes…

Reports surfaced that suggested that Chelsea and Frank Lampard would be swooping in to steal the Gabriel Magalhaes away from Carlo Ancelotti. Since this time, it has been a foregone conclusion that the Merseyside bound Brazilian is now firmly headed to London; Gabriel Magalhaes therefore, is now a man of consequence for Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal.

While the deal is not sealed yet, it seems imminent. What this means for both Everton and Chelsea remains to be seen; we can certainly prognosticate in the meantime.

What losing Gabriel Magalhaes means for the Everton Toffees

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For Everton, this is an unfortunate setback for the Royal Blues; Yerry Mina and Mason Holgate require reinforcement and the search for such has stalled in the past. While transferring for Jarrad Branthwaite is a wonderful innovation for the future, it does little for the present.

Someone like Gabriel Magalhaes could have offered another young body, with a tough and able spirit; Lille always produces wonderful players in the spirit of Eden Hazard, Pepe and Lucas Digne himself. Garnering the 22-year-old now could have put Everton in a much better position going into next year than they presently are.

There are others potentially available, and the Toffees will be on the hunt without question. Unai Nunez, Marash Kumbulla are but a couple of names that have floated around Goodison Park this year; players that allow Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewis to flourish are preferable.

To sure up the backline, and bring in creative and thoughtful midfielders to support this talent up front remains the main objective for Don Carlo Ancelotti moving forward.

Losing this to a rival and blue blood of the Premier League is difficult as well; what Chelsea gets on the other hand, remains as positive for them, as losing out on Gabriel was negative for Everton.

Chelsea and the Pensioners Share

While Everton goes back to the drawing board, Chelsea will have yet another piece to add to their ever-growing stable of remarkable young talent.

Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount, Billy Gilmour, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ethan Ampadu and Tammy Abraham all come to mind immediately. Adding in Gabriel Magalhaes is just further fuel for competition and growth at Stamford Bridge.

Frank Lampard knows this, and Frank Lampard loves this; his idea of sound football remains something that stands for years, not mere months. He desires his coaching legacy to imitate his playing legacy; grit, pace, ability and longevity are all necessary for this endeavour.

And these qualities remain as necessary for his player as for the man himself; growing something from the bottom up requires patience and ambition. Luckily for Chelsea and Lampard, they do not find themselves anywhere near a total rebuild. Last years manager at Chelsea, Mauricio Sarri, won the Europa League in his only year with the club.

Chelsea features talent like Jourginho, N’golo Kante, Pedro and Willian; keeping young players around them, learning and emulating, can prove remarkable expeditious in maintaining and building upon a sturdy foundation. In Gabriel Magalhaes, Chelsea looks to collect another bright talent with the ambition to grow and become greater; along with the talent they’ve already mustered, Chelsea looks a scary sight for future opposition.

Everton and Chelsea: A tale of Two Blues

While Everton look to have lost out this time, do not feel too terrible for the Toffees; although history has been unkind to them since the days of Dixie Dean, they have the financial resources and ambition, alongside the coaching mentality, to see great growth in the future as well.

Carlo Ancelotti has the ambition to recreate Everton into the legendary club he knows them to be historically speaking. His ability has not faltered with the years, and he will continue to build at Everton what he has built at previous locations across Europe.

For Chelsea, it’s that the rich continue amassing future wealth; assuming the Blues finish in the top four of the league table, they will be hard to handle in European competition with their expansive youth. Frank Lampard has the knowledge and ability to make a formidable manager at Chelsea for years to come.

While signing Gabriel is not the first innovation towards this end, it is certainly another one on the road to that destination and for Chelsea faithful, that should be cause for rejoicing!