Chelsea leading race for £67m star who’d be a better signing than Garnacho

Chelsea’s mid-season audit reveals promise for the years forward, with Enzo Maresca’s techniques inserting the membership again in competition for Champions League soccer after two seasons exterior the qualifying locations.

Maresca’s teaching mettle has been put beneath duress in current weeks, with the Italian commenting that managing the Stamford Bridge facet is a “catastrophe” throughout the winter switch window, for the fixed rumours of in-and-out exercise is having an unsettling impact on a number of gamers.

There isn’t any query that Chelsea’s kind has taken a success for the more severe of late, having did not win any of the previous 4 Premier League fixtures, however the Blues will restore their place within the prime 4 with a win on Monday night after Newcastle United have been thrashed by Bournemouth.

Maresca will hope that his squad restore a few of their defensive resistance, although it has been made identified that Chelsea are eager on bolstering on the again this month.

Gamers equivalent to Marc Guehi have been touted however it’s truly somebody from abroad who could also be on the prime of the BlueCo wishlist.

Chelsea switch information in January

Final week, Chelsea truly recalled Trevoh Chalobah from his mortgage spell at Crystal Palace in order that successfully guidelines Guehi out of a cross-city swap to west London this month.

Nonetheless, Caught Offside have revealed that Chelsea are maintaining their choices open and are literally favourites to signal Sporting Lisbon centre-half Ousmane Diomande regardless of the vested curiosity of Arsenal and Bayern Munich.

Diomande has an €80m (£67m) launch clause in his contract however Chelsea have paid such cash on proficient younger centre-backs prior to now and this one has the indicators of one thing really particular.

What Ousmane Diomande would convey to Chelsea

At 21 years previous, Diomande has skyrocketed to success in Portugal, incomes 85 senior appearances for Sporting and notably lifting the 2023/24 league title.

The Ivory Coast worldwide has accomplished an unbelievable 94% of his passes within the Portuguese prime flight this season, successful 72% of his aerial duels and averaging 4.9 ball recoveries per recreation, as per Sofascore, which showcases his athleticism on prime of a powerful base of abilities.

As per FBref, Diomande ranks among the many prime 1% of central defenders in Liga Portugal this season for cross completion, the highest 4% for passes tried and the highest 13% for aerial battles received per 90, completely illustrating the mix of ball-playing high quality and physicality that may set him up for achievement in Maresca’s system.

When contemplating that Diomande remains to be solely 21 however has already formed into some of the technically sound defenders in Europe, it is clear that Chelsea ought to do the whole lot inside their energy to cease the likes of Arsenal from snapping him up.

As earlier acknowledged, Chelsea usually are not narrowed to only one space as they put together to strengthen within the switch market this 12 months, with current studies additionally suggesting that Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho is on the Blues’ procuring listing.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein has even confirmed that enquires have been made to determine whether or not the Purple Devils can be tempted into cashing in, but when a precedence is to be positioned on one space, securing a expertise equivalent to Diomande carries much more significance than any sniffing round for a mercurial winger like Garnacho.

Firstly, Wesley Fofana is sidelined till the later part of the 2024/25 marketing campaign and is starting to see the followers’ religion in his sustaining health drain away.

There’s additionally the matter of Chelsea’s bloatedness up prime, with Garnacho at his greatest on the left. Provided that the likes of Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho and Mykhaylo Mudryk all jockey for a beginning berth already at Chelsea, this seems like it will be a considerably pointless acquisition, not least as a result of the Blues have been quoted at £80m in the event that they need to land the up-and-coming Argentine.

Hailed for his “extremely full” profile for such a younger defender by expertise scout Jacek Kulig, Diomande might form into one in all Europe’s most interesting. Chelsea want to make sure that that occurs at Stamford Bridge.

Garnacho, too, is an thrilling expertise able to magical issues, however is he actually what Maresca’s undertaking wants proper now, particularly after questions have been raised relating to his temperament?

There’s a actually proficient participant in there, struggling barely from the tempestuous situations over at Previous Trafford, however with eight objectives and 5 assists throughout all competitions this season, he is doing sufficient to show that he is acquired an enormous future forward.

Garnacho’s former Man United teammate, Fred, has even mentioned prior to now that “he will probably be among the finest gamers on this planet, for positive.”

Nonetheless, Chelsea have to make the fitting name if they’ll make investments a big quantity on a rising star. If it boils all the way down to selecting out one excellent goal, Diomande is the one to go for.