Tiemoue Bakayoko will remain out of the lineup after his injury recovery until Antonio Conte has him up to speed on tactics, methods and expectations. This raises more questions over Chelsea’s transfer strategy and midfield lineup.
Stop us if this sounds familiar. A dynamic young player arrives at Chelsea from Ligue 1. Antonio Conte is concerned because the new player “doesn’t know anything about my idea of football.” Conte explains he will need “a bit of time” before this new player takes the pitch in Blue, let alone in the starting XI.
Tiemoue Bakayoko’s situation also has plenty of differences from Michy Batshuayi’s 2016/17, but the parallels are still worrisome. Unlike Batshuayi, Tiemoue Bakayoko was high on Antonio Conte’s transfer wish-list. Bakayoko is recovering from an injury, while few still understand what Conte’s hang-up on Batshuayi was (or, perhaps, is). Bakayoko’s eventual place in the squad is somewhat more certain.
However, Chelsea arguably need Tiemoue Bakayoko more now than they needed Michy Batshuayi at this time last year. Chelsea had the seemingly content Diego Costa to lead the offence last season. Batshuayi was clearly the second choice, although few could have expected how distant a second he would be.
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Chelsea have no such option in midfield right now. The Blues bought Bakayoko with the intention that he would immediately be N’Golo Kante’s partner in central-midfield. Antonio Conte left Nemanja Matic behind with the expectation that he will transfer, and similarly the Blues sold Nathaniel Chalobah. Instead of having depth in central-midfield, N’Golo Kante himself probably does not know who will partner him on opening day.
Antonio Conte’s decision to leave Tiemoue Bakayoko in London for the pre-season tour is puzzling in itself. Presumably, he has better and more consistent access to rehabilitation facilities and personnel in London. He is also not enduring the extensive travel and transient life of a pre-season tour, which likely eases his recovery.
However, last year Conte took Kurt Zouma on the pre-season tour of the United States. Zouma was still recovering from his ACL surgery at the time, and was several months away from match fitness. Conte specifically cited the opportunity to teach Zouma his tactics and help Zouma meld with the squad as his reasons for bringing the injured Frenchman. Pictures from the training sessions showed Zouma taking part in walk-throughs, watching and listening on the touchlines and in regular team- and individual talks with the coaches.
Antonio Conte clearly weighed Bakayoko’s recovery prospects in London against the instructional value of accompanying the team to Asia. This two-step process of recovery followed by specific training was part of the plan.
But this makes Chelsea’s transfer activities even more difficult to comprehend. Knowing that Bakayoko would miss this extra span of time would seem to mitigate against letting Nathaniel Chalobah transfer to Watford.
With Chalobah gone, Chelsea have not moved with particular urgency to reinforce central midfield. Lewis Baker is a promising option, but his place in the squad is far from certain. And he has less experience training and playing under Antonio Conte than Chalobah. The Renato Sanches rumours make more sense after factoring in Bakayoko’s prolonged absence, but not why Chelsea only started showing serious interest in him in the last week of July.
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The 2017 summer transfer window is consistent with Chelsea’s patterns over the years. However, part of that pattern is a lot of delays, confusion, bewilderment, flailing and, at the end, a sense of relief that “whew, they pulled it off.” The ends may just justify the means for some, but it would be nice to try something new once in a while and not go through this bothersome routine.