It’s been a slow news day for Chelsea fans so far – but there is one interesting piece of transfer news trickling out.
It seems that the Blues have stolen a march on Newcastle and managed to sign 26 year old Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer. Fabrizio Romano has today reported that the deal is in the “final stages”, and that the Fulham defender will be new manager Enzo Maresca’s first signing.
Chelsea may have lost Thiago Silva this summer, but they still have Wesley Fofana, Axel Disasi, Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill on the books. Where does Tosin fit in?
Well, that group above is not nearly as complete as it looks. Chalobah is expected to leave, Fofana can’t be relied upon because he had three consecutive serious injuries, then Badiashile and Disasi have not exactly been consistently brilliant when called upon.
There’s no doubt that Levi Colwill looks top class, but even he is only going into his third top flight season, and is hardly an established superstar just yet.
The numbers behind Tosin signing
A glance at Tosin’s stats on FBref shows the kind of player he is. His aerial duels per game won is very good, as are his passing stats. Those are the areas he really excels in. We can see him working well alongside Colwill, who has similar strengths, but equally the two could also be seen as two alternatives, with Badiashile and Disasi providing the pair on the other side.
The player comparisons feature on FBRef throws up players like Newcastle’s Jamaal Lascelles and former Leeds defender Robin Kock as equivalents – although upgrading to a stronger team should mean that Tosin gets the chance to improve his stats this season and find some bigger names on his comparison list in a year’s time.
