Ricardo Carvalho’s departure from Chelsea to Real Madrid either shows Chelsea are desperate to trim their wage bill or they are confident they have adequate replacements.
My understanding is that Chelsea were waiting for Real Madrid to come back to the table with a better offer after initial talks broke down.
Carvalho’s absence from the Community Shield on Sunday was evidence that Chelsea were confident Real would come back and thus they prevented Riccy from playing - he was fit - for fear of an injury scuppering the deal.
Certainly Alex and Ivanovic have not looked out of place alongside John Terry, but Riccy is a completely different player to either of those two.
They, like Terry are powerhouse players, Riccy was the perfect foil for Terry. He covered behind JT when the skipper was flat-footed. He anticipated attacks and snuffed out the opposition forward before he had the time to take advantage.
But he was also a creative defender often starting moves and even ending them.
Who could forget that goal against Manchester United at the Bridge in one of our championship -winning seasons.
Riccy wanted away last year and hankered after a move to Inter Milan and back to Jose Mourinho.
Chelsea did not want to part with him.
But now, a year on, and financial constraints hitting the Blues like everyone else, Chelsea decided now was the time to get him off the wage bill.
Iva and Alex are a year more experienced and Jeffery Bruma is waiting in the wings. It’s a gamble and let’s hope it pays off.
Chelsea have not looked very secure at the back this pre-season, leaking goals in every game. The acid test for the defence come on Saturday against WBA.
But the lure of Mourinho and Real Madrid means Riccy will be moving to a bigger club at a time when many players are moving towards the end of their careers.
That is something a man like Riccy deserves at least.
He played 203+7 times for Chelsea, scoring 11 times, and won three Premier League titles, two FA Cups and two Carling Cups.
Congrats and well done, Riccy from all at Chelsea-Mad