Chelsea football club remains Roman Abramovich’s prize possession, irrespective of the humiliation of the past 18 months. It was he who introduced a new bracket of spending to English football and we owe him an unpayable debt for sustaining our pre-eminence.
Thanks to the shortfalls of our current squad, our standing within the Premier League has slipped, and he will no doubt feel uneasy that his club is in free-fall. It has been reported that he is ready to give Antonio Conte his full backing and bankroll a reshaping of the squad, intended to take his side back to the top domestically and in Europe.
Unfortunately, I do not have Abramovich’s ear, nor Marina Granovskaia’s, nor Michael Emenalo’s – but that will not dishearten me. Here are three players I would target to help take us back to where we belong.
Andreas Christensen
The search for a new centre-back should go no further than our own books. Andreas Christensen is the modern defender, in a similar manner to John Stones he personifies the dynamism and forward-thinking that is so desperately sought after by all of Europe’s top clubs – the Denmark international is already attracting esteemed attention.
As reported by German paper Bild, Pep Guardiola was overheard telling Borussia Monchengladbach director Max Eberl that he was interested in signing Christensen. It comes as no surprise, he is the quintessential Guardiola defender, but sorry Pep, he’s ours.
https://twitter.com/TheAnalysisVids/status/779051001990909952
The prospect of a Kurt Zouma & Andreas Christensen centre-back pairing is mouth-watering, and at 21 and 20 years old respectively, both of their best years are ahead of them. We cannot afford to allow Christensen to be the next of a growing list of players to slip through our net.
Riyad Mahrez
Loosely linked in the summer, the Premier League player of the year is the most obvious choice to replace Willian on the faltering right-side of our midfield. Why? Since his arrival in England, Willian has scored 12 league goals and provided 11 assists; in the 2015/16 Premier League campaign alone, Riyad Mahrez scored 17 goals and provided 11 assists.
A 37 game haul that surpassed what our current right-winger has managed in 101 games. 4180 minutes less! It gets more and more embarrassing for Willian every way you break it down, and it’s simply not good enough for a club with our ambitions.
In Mahrez we would be not only signing one of the most audacious and entertaining players in the country, but one who has become mercurial in front of goal. The below radar is depicting Riyad Mahrez’s stats from the 2015/16 season. As shown, he averaged 0.42 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes with a goal conversion rate of 21%.
For comparison, last season Willian averaged just 0.16 non-penalty goals per 90, and 0.07 in our title winning campaign of 2014/15. Mahrez also averaged 3.57 dribbles per 90 last season, far surpassing the 2.5 top figure which is based on the top 5% of players in Europe in that statistic, establishing himself as one of the very best players on the ball in Europe.
https://twitter.com/mixedknuts/status/724523191515881472
Our reliance on Eden Hazard in a creative sense and also offering a goal threat from midfield is becoming an issue, as he has struggled for form on a personal level. Mahrez would ease that burden and give us genuine attacking threat from the right-hand side. In the current market he would, unfortunately, not come cheap, but in our current position we must not baulk at inflated fees and instead focus on what the player would add to our side.
Koke
Though one of the few players in European football widely seen as unobtainable, I firmly believe we should test Atletico’s resolve for Koke. Cesc Fabregas remains the lone creative source within our central-midfield ranks, and due to his off-the-ball inadequacies, it remains unclear if he will be an option for Antonio Conte going forward.
Since the beginning of the 2012/13 campaign, Koke has scored 17 goals and provided 48 assists in La Liga, a direct goal contribution every 179 minutes. His tally of 14 assists last term could only be bettered by five players in Europe’s top five leagues – Mesut Ozil, Angel Di Maria, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Henrikh Mhkitaryan.
Koke performances at the Vicente Calderon throughout the past few years have drawn much adulation, none more noteworthy, though, than from Xavi – who expressed his admiration for his compatriot.
He has everything: talent, physical ability, he is a footballer of the present and the future… He has been marked out as the conductor of Spain’s orchestra for the next 10 years. I have a special affection for him because we play in the same position and I think he is an extraordinary player.
– Xavi Hernandez
His ingenuity would be invaluable in our quest to make this team great again, and though, like Mahrez, he would cost a small fortune – it’s a price worth paying.
