Antonio Conte will take charge of his first competitive Chelsea game in August in a London derby, but he’s in France for the Euros at the moment. Most Chelsea fans will be hoping that Italy bow out of the tournament when they face Germany in Bordeaux on Saturday so Conte can come to London to sort things out at Chelsea.
The Azzuri manager will need to recruit players before he can properly implement his managerial methods, training regimes and playing style on the Blues. Conte not being at Cobham hasn’t stopped Chelsea from being linked with plenty of players, however, with a recent £32 million bid for Valencia midfielder André Gomes rejected by the Spanish outfit.
Here, I profile some potential arrivals at Stamford Bridge this summer…
Leonardo Bonucci
Leonardo Bonucci is a defender who is very comfortable on the ball. In Conte’s 3-5-2 at Juventus, he would be the one to bring the ball out from the back, perhaps join the midfield and pick out a pass. Starring at Euro 2016, he has been under Conte’s tutelage for the past five years, and that could be set to continue with the Italian manager reportedly interested in bringing the centre-back to Chelsea.
It would be interesting to see how Bonucci fairs without the defenders he has played alongside since the 11/12 season when Conte arrived at Juve. They are widely regarded as the best defence in world football, with Spanish striker Alvaro Morata endorsing this on Saturday ahead of their eventual loss to Italy.
A former midfielder, Bonucci’s hallmarks are his impressive technique and ball-playing ability. Normally associated with a three-man defence, he can also play in a four-man defence, excelling alongside Andrea Ranocchia for Italian club Bari before his move to Juve. Bonucci has been highly-praised by legends of the game such as Pep Guardiola and Giovanni Galli.
He has often been referred to as a sweeper defender due to his passing vision and defensive abilities. Standing at 6’3″, Bonucci would be an excellent addition to the heart of the Chelsea defence if they managed to scoop him up at the peak of his career.
Stefano Sturaro
Bonucci’s teammate, and his compatriot. Stefano Sturaro completed his first full season at Juventus in 2015/16 after a loan spell at Genoa two seasons ago, an average campaign at best, and the Italian international has only made one start for his country at EURO 2016.
Sturaro, a hard-working midfielder who can play anywhere in the middle of the park, could act as the midfield enforcer that Chelsea have been in desperate need of since Michael Ballack and Michael Essien both departed the club. He is a ball-winner who can subsequently distribute the ball forward.
At just 23 years old, Sturaro is far from the peak of his career.
He is a “Conte player”, and a move to Chelsea could benefit his career more as he is very far down the pecking order for Juventus at the moment. It is understood the Italian champions are looking for a bid in the region of £20 million.
Axel Witsel
A player Chelsea have been linked with during many windows, and once again this summer, Axel Witsel is a versatile Belgian midfielder who can play anywhere in the middle of the park—in a pivot, in central midfield, an attacking midfielder—Witsel can always adapt to requirements. A set-piece threat, he is a regulator of the play and can dictate the tempo of the game.
Playing his football in Russia with Zenit St.Petersburg, the 27-year-old averaged 1.4 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game while committing 2.1 fouls per game in the Russian Premier League in 2015/16. Netting three times last season, Witsel accumulated just one assist. They are poor stats for a midfielder but, to be fair, goals and assists are not Witsel’s hallmarks.
A type of midfielder Chelsea are in desperate need of, Witsel could prove a good signing for Chelsea and Conte.
Alvaro Morata
Real Madrid activated Alvaro Morata’s buy-back clause on his Juventus contract earlier this week but it seems the Spanish striker could be offloaded right away to Chelsea for up to £60 million.
An astronomical price tag for a player like Morata, it has completely put off Arsenal and Manchester United are unsure whether to bid so high for a mostly unproven striker. Chelsea, however, are interested in signing Morata and have been very impressed by the Spaniard’s performances at Euro 2016 in France.
Morata won’t guarantee many goals. He had a mixed two seasons at Juventus, with Dybala overshadowing the Spaniard in his first season for the Italian champions, with Morata netting just seven times in the Serie A last year.
But stats can be misleading, and that’s what most people judge a player on at the end of the day. He hasn’t had a really “great” season since he burst onto the scene at Real Madrid—his seasons at Los Blancos were frustrating as he was constantly overlooked for the Galacticos at Madrid. At Juventus, he was mostly used as an impact substitution.
So he hasn’t had a full season yet where he is the undisputed No.9. That’s why his stats are deceiving, give him a campaign where he is playing every game, and he will score plenty of goals. My point is backed up by his performances for Spain at Euro 2016. Morata is the joint-top scorer with three goals and it’s no coincidence—he’s playing as the prominent striker.
There are other aspects of Morata’s game that are great. He works the channels very well, emulating his former Juventus teammate Carlos Tevez. His link-up play is good. He is a hard-working striker whose physique is quite deceiving as he is a powerful No.9.
All in all, Morata would be a very good signing for Chelsea. A partnership with Diego Costa could prove devastating, and would closely resemble the current Italian NT striking pair of Eder and Pellé that has finally clicked after all these months. The price tag may put a few people off, but if he joins, it’ll be a case of how Jose Mourinho handled the heckling of the English media and Chelsea fans for spending so much on a generally unproved frontman—that goes by the name of Didier Drogba—”judge him when he leaves the club.”
