Everyone around Chelsea is obsessed with Timo Werner deal and Chelsea's pursuit to sign Kai Havertz. Ben Chilwell's transfer rumour has also been doing rounds for quite a while. In all this hustle and bustle are we missing out on introspecting the actual need of the hour.
Chelsea as a team has been performing well, we can surely say above our expectations. No many at the start of this season expected Chelsea to be in this position with the team we had.
However there is an area which we really need to improve.
We have already conceded 40 goals this season which is one more than last season and two more than 2017/2018 season. We still have 8 more games to play so surely the tally is going to rise.
We have been missing a leader like JT in the middle of defence. We are missing a partnership like JT and Carvalho. Though this season we have tried different combinations Zouma-Christensen, Tomori-Zouma, Christensen-Rudiger, Rudiger- Zouma. But none of these combinations have given us the confidence of secured defence.
In this transfer market we can look into options to strengthen our back four. Now the question remains should we go for a experienced defender or a prodigy - a potential legend.
Here are the few options that we could look into,
Jonathan Tah(21), Dayot Upmecano(24)
Let's discuss stats.
Average tackles per game Tah averages 1.4 tackle a game compared to 1.9 of Upmecano. However Christensen is ahead of both and he averages 2 tackle per game.
Upmecano has better interception(1.5) and blocks(0.6) per game compared to Tah.
These were few centre backs with very high potential. Though Upmecano looks way ahead in defensive stats one could argue Tah could be a good contender considering he is a German and will have a better understanding and coherence with fellow German Rudiger.
Now let's have look at some of experienced centrebacks, who could provide with the said missing experience.
Kalidou Koulibaly and Samuel Umtiti. Though Samuel Umtiti has not played much this season. This world cup winner is considered a surplus in Barcelona after the emergence of Clement Lenglet. Barcelona may look to sell Umtiti so that they fund for Lautaro Martinez move. Koulibaly has been consistent from quite a few years and has been rumoured with a move to many European top clubs. When we compare their stats, of this season Koulibaly is ahead in tackles per game, clearances and blocks per game. However Umtiti has better interceptions ratio.
It would be worth waiting to see what are Chelsea plan. Are they going to sign a centre back and what are the parameters in their mind. There are few more centre backs who could be considered Nathan Ake, Lewis Dunk and Alessio Romagnoli.
Nathan Ake and Lewis Dunk come with massive premier League experience, whereas Romagnoli though only 25 year old had played 200 Serie A games and has been a key part of Italian International setup. However none of them has stats that are extra ordinary.
Chelsea might not spend heavy on central defender considering they have already spent on Ziyech and Werner, and having eyes set on Havertz and Chilwell. Chelsea might go with cheaper options like Ake or Dunk.
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