CHESEA’S owners face a transfer dilemma in January on whether they should slow down their spending or continue splashing the cash.There is pressure building on Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino with the club 10th in the Premier League
Mauricio Pochettino could be in line for some key additions in JanuaryCredit: Alamy
A couple of key additions can vastly improve the BluesCredit: Getty
And there is a growing expectation the club will spend in January to get them out of trouble.
This would be coming on the back, however, of a £460million outlay in the summer as the club brought in the likes of Moises Caciedo, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku, Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, Axel Disasi and Lesley Ugochukwu.
This came on the back of a £600m outlay the season before as Chelsea’s new ownership group looked to stamp their identity on the club.
Despite this, the club find themselves well off the pace of where they want to be, sitting in 10th in the Premier League and 12 points off the top four.
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So, given that Chelsea have invested such huge funds into their playing squad over the last 18 months, is further spending really the answer?
The answer might actually prove to be yes but mainly because their recruitment to this point has not been good enough.
But Total Football Analysis’ xGold tool has identified three players with similar profiles to top other top stars who could prove transformative for the Blues in the second half of the season.
The xGold tool was previously used to identify names for Manchester United, with Chelsea now being the subject of the conversation.
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1. Sacha Boey, RB, Galatasaray – £22m
Sacha Boey has been identified as the ideal January recruit for ChelseaCredit: Getty
Boey impressed in the Champions League this season
The first area we have looked at is right back following another injury to club captain Reece James, with Manchester City’s Kyle Walker being used as the blueprint to replace the position.
They have already brought in one French right-back in Malo Gusto to act as a backup option but xGold has identified a second Frenchman who has an 88 per cent likeness to Walker in Sacha Boey
Here we see an example of Boey’s dangerous movement when moving in possession
Boey dominated the right flank when playing at Old Trafford earlier this season
The 23-year-old has impressed in the Champions League with Galatasaray and has the kind of profile that could work well in the Premier League.
Boey is a fullback who can defend effectively and pass and move forward to support attacks and also possess the ability to tuck inside and support the centre-backs.
He is a superior defender to Malo Gusto with the ability to tuck inside and support his central defenders.
Boey is fast and strong but he also displays good game intelligence and anticipation.
Here Boey receives the ball and is intelligent enough to wait for his team-mates run before playing a pass
How Boey’s profile compares to Kyle Walker
And all of this comes at a cool estimated cost of £22m,
With James’ injury and right-back being an increasingly important position from a tactical point of view, the signing of a RB like Boey would give more depth and quality to the Chelsea squad going forward.
2. Joao Neves, CM, Benfica – £105m
Joao Neves is the second name who has been identified by xGoldCredit: Getty
He has caught the eye at Benfica this season
Using Man City star Rodri as our second blueprint, xGold has returned an 85 per cent with Benfica midfielder Joao Neves.
Neves, 19, is already a full Portugal international and has a profile that would slot comfortably into the Premier League.
Neves is intelligent enough to find space in midfield to dictate play from
Neves has proven himself capable of being a heavy influence on games
Despite £222 pairing Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caciedo already in the Chelsea midfield, there is a sense that they are still missing a midfielder who can be a true controller in deeper areas.
Adding a midfielder like Neves, who likes to drop deeper and build the attack by receiving the ball from his defenders in high volume, would bring another dimension to the Chelsea midfield.
This allows him to support build up play by creating numerical superiority which can progress the ball through an opposition press.
His exemplary passing range is added to by the variety of passes he can play, making him an all-action midfielder that would give Chelsea a strong base to build from.
Neves’ passing range mark him out as an excellent conductor
How Neves compares to Rodri
Neves, however, will not be cheap. And his estimated cost of £105m could be a big pill to swallow after already coughing up north of £100m on two other midfielders.
However, he has the potential to go on to become one of the top players in World football and he certainly stabilise this Chelsea midfield.
3. Evan Ferguson, ST, Brighton – £100m
Evan Ferguson is the third star identified who can transform ChelseaCredit: Getty
Ferguson has been tipped as a star for the future
Considering the goal struggles among Chelsea’s forwards, the third star identified by xGold is Brighton’s Evan Ferguson, based off an 80 per cent match on the blueprint for Napoli ace Victor Osimhen.
Chelsea have been regular Brighton shoppers in recent seasons – Marc Cucurella and Moises Caicedo were both big money signings from the Amex – but they need to pay one more major visit to the Seagulls.
Ferguson’s profile mean he is capable of both holding up play and scoring goals himself
Ferguson has proven himself capable of dropping deep and leading the line
There are few better young forwards in world football than the 19-year-old Irish international, who is equally comfortable playing on the shoulder of the last defender or with his back to goal.
He is the definition of a forward that has ‘good feet for a big man’ and when receiving back to goal he has the ability to take the ball and combine with team-mates effectively in attack.
Ferguson is also, however, capable of receiving and spinning defenders who get too tight to him before driving forward and attacking towards the opposition penalty area.
At this point in time Chelsea are missing a forward who gives a real presence to the attack and who can hold the ball and bring others into the game.
Here Ferguson recieves the ball on the edge of the area before turning and curling a shot into the bottom corner
How Ferguson compares to Victor Osimhen
Given the speed Chelsea have in the wide areas and the technical players they have in the midfield, we believe adding a top-quality forward player will be the key in linking everything together.
Once again, Ferguson is not a player who will come cheap with some reports putting his cost as high as £100m, but Ferguson could feature at the top of their attack for the next decade.
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Conclusion
Using data and player profiles we can use tools like xGold to cut through the noise and sheer volume of players that are available to a team like Chelsea to help them to make smart decisions in terms of their recruitment.
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