Yaya Toure’s agent has revealed that the midfield enforcer is close to making a decision regarding his future and expects to favour Premier League and FA Cup winners Chelsea over their London rivals Arsenal, who also had an interest in him.

But Manchester United have reportedly joined the race to sign him too as they want to bolster their midfield.

The Toure to Chelsea rumours may have raised a few eyebrows amongst Blues fans as they already have an abundance of midfielders who can play in a deep midfield role like Michael Essien, Jon Obi Mikel, Nemanja Matic and reports suggest that Michael Ballack’s future at Chelsea is to be extended.

However, Carlo Ancelotti may want to bolster his midfield ranks as Deco and Juliano Belletti are sure to leave the club. Also, Joe Cole’s future hangs in the balance as his contract is out in the summer and is likely to seek first team football, which his current boss Ancelotti cannot guarantee him.

Dimitri Seluk, Toure’s agent, believes that a move to Chelsea could be great for them and Toure.

“If Chelsea want Yaya and everyone wins with this deal, why not?” said Seluk.

He added: “This last season, Toure has not played regularly and Pep Guardiola has preferred [Sergio] Busquets or [Seydou] Keita instead of him.

“If he prefers Busquets and Keita, then the best thing for Toure is to leave for Chelsea. He has made up his mind 90 percent to leave.”

Seluk is adamant that Toure is only willing to leave Barcelona if the deal it right for footballing reasons and insists that his player is not motivated by money.

“He has a good salary here but he doesn’t want to earn money here and fall asleep on the bench. Some players would accept that situation. Not him. If he leaves, Barca will then understand what they will lose.”

Although the initial reaction by many to the story has been ‘why would Chelsea need Yaya Toure?’ There are many benefits of having such a player in the squad for Ancelotti other than just adding a bit of depth to the team’s midfield.

Firstly, the tactical advantage of adding another defensive midfielder into the side gives Ancelotti to use Essien (probably the best player on Chelsea’s books) in a more attacking role. If you have read the opinions of the Chelsea fans on BBC 606 or other fan forums many argue that the club’s Ghanaian star is wasted in a deep midfield role, even though he plays it so well, remember him playing Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard out of the game in the Champions League quarter final last season? Essien is dynamic, powerful and spirited player who could be far more effective further up the park in a more attacking role as a box-to-box midfielder.

A player like Toure should be able to fit right in to the side alongside his Ivorian countrymen Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, as well as the rest of the African contingent at the club Obi Mikel and Essien.

However, it is a shame that his nationality is also the biggest downside to any possible transfer as Chelsea already lose four of their stars for a few weeks every time the African Cup of Nations is held.

Whether Yaya Toure is the man or not I think Chelsea could benefit with some added steel to their defence and a deep lying midfielder could bring so much to an already successful squad. The Stamford Bridge outfit have also been linked with other midfielders such as Javier Mascherano and Charles Kabor, who has previously been linked with Barcelona and currently playing for French club Marseille.

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Here’s an youtube video showing what sorts of abilities Yaya Toure can offer to any potential buyers:

[youtube eXvcSz1-piQ]