Chelsea Transfer News: Sami Khedira Edge Held over Arsenal Due to Petr Cech

Chelsea will use Petr Cech as leverage in the battle to sign Sami Khedira from Real Madrid, according to reports.

Carlo Ancelotti is looking to find a dependable alternative to Iker Casillas between the sticks and is "now planning a loan move" for Cech—his former Blues colleague—according to Anthony Chapman of the Daily Express. Chapman believes Chelsea have "stormed" ahead of Arsenal in the hunt for Khedira, as Jose Mourinho looks to use Madrid's desires to his advantage.

Gianluca Di Marzio of Sky Italia recently indicated Khedira will be in England soon:

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The intuition is that Khedira has already found an agreement with another club and that he will sign as soon as possible. The signals lead to the Premier League, Arsenal are favorites over Chelsea, anyway Mou knows him well. Khedira seems destined to move to England, if the recent whispers will be confirmed.

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The Real Madrid midfielder has turned down the club's advances of a new contract. According to Di Marzio, he is looking to "cash in as much as possible" on his remaining years of football, meaning a free summer switch could be the way to go. This will allow Khedira's suitors to pay him even more handsomely than if a transfer fee was to be enforced.

Currently recovering from knee surgery, Khedira has made only two substitute appearances this season. He has just 30 minutes on the clock, per WhoScored.com, and he is yet to significantly feature since winning the World Cup with Germany. This may lessen Madrid's desire to keep him, as Khedira has constantly suffered with fitness problems over the last couple of years.

He would likely fill the Nemanja Matic role at Chelsea. Mourinho uses the giant Serbian to plug the midfield but also as a deep-lying pivot for the west London side to base their play around. He has moved forward with increasing regularity throughout recent matches, a role Khedira is more than capable of fulfilling. In fact, his strides forward from deep were a major asset of Germany's play at the World Cup.

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Khedira's potential arrival would provide another example of Mourinho finding a world-class, multifaceted star to fill his needs at Chelsea. His side possess real physicality, are tactically astute and have the capability to overpower opponents away from the ball.

Technicality is also key, with players such as Cesc Fabregas providing more subtly effective movement in the middle. Khedira would aid this, providing a defensive shield and attacking support when needed.

Mourinho's decision to stick with Thibaut Courtois in goal, over Cech, has seen the 32-year-old admit he will "solve" the situation if it doesn't improve, per Sky Sports. This could be by joining Ancelotti, who recently indicated he would have preferred Diego Lopez to stay than search for a new stopper, per football writer Thore Haugstad:

Casillas' poor form has led to the Madrid keeper receiving jeers from his own support. He was recently dropped from the Spain first team after making a high-profile error during the 2-1 loss to Slovakia.

The World Cup winner appears far beyond his peak and hasn't shown any signs of finding his best form, meaning it could be time to look elsewhere. Ancelotti does, of course, have summer signing Keylor Navas to utilise if he sees fit.

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Cech's arrival in Spain would most likely see the end of Casillas' tenure at the club. Nicholas Rigg of The Independent has linked the long-time No. 1 to Arsenal and Liverpool, but he insists the player will finish his career in the Spanish capital. If this happens, Cech's presence in Madrid will become unneeded.

One transfer involving either Cech, Khedira or Casillas could have a severe knock-on effect here. Mourinho will quietly be hoping the goalkeeper he dropped during his time in Madrid continues to show bad form, forcing Ancelotti to act. If this happens, Cech then becomes a viable pawn in a tactical battle which is likely to see Khedira end up in London, one way or another.