Soccer: *Official* Transfer Thread

[Dmac]

Boulahrouz completes Chelsea move



Chelsea have completed the signing of Dutch international defender Khalid Boulahrouz from German club Hamburg for an undisclosed fee.

The 24-year-old passed a medical and agreed personal terms at the weekend, and was at Stamford Bridge to see his new side beat Manchester City 3-0.

Chelsea are thought to have paid in the region of £6m for the defender, who can play anywhere across the back.

Nicknamed Khalid the Cannibal, he has been capped 15 times by Holland.

"In a short squad and in a country where you can have only 16 players for a match, it's important to have cover for many positions," said Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

"So now I can have Boulahrouz, Ricardo Carvalho and John Terry - three options for the centre. I can have Paulo Ferreira and Boulahrouz - two options for the right side; I can have Boulahrouz and Wayne Bridge - two options for the left side."

Boulahrouz started the last two World Cup games for Holland at the World Cup but he was red-carded in their defeat by Portugal in the last 16, a stormy affair in which he was accused of deliberately trying to injure winger Cristiano Ronaldo with a thigh-high challenge.

"He is a good competitive player and will be a good addition to our squad," Chelsea's assistant manager Steve Clarke told Chelsea TV.

"It is important to have one or two players around the squad who can play in a number of different positions."

Boulahrouz is available for Chelsea's European campaign because he was a non-playing substitute in Hamburg's Champions League qualifier against Osasuna.

He will go straight into Chelsea's squad for Wednesday's Premiership game at Middlesbrough.

Credit - BBC Sport

[Dark Drakan]

Been a while since Chelsea paid less than £10 million for a player :tongue: