Chelsea hopes Emerson is another unheralded Serie A defensive gem

Emerson Palmieri’s imminent arrival will be Chelsea’s fourth defensive signing from Serie A under Antonio Conte. Will he be a success like Marcos Alonso, need quite some time to adjust like Davide Zappacosta or something else entirely?

Since Antonio Conte’s arrival, Chelsea’s defensive recruits have been primarily from Italy. Conte’s first transfer window brought Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina as a surprise addition, before bringing Antonio Rudiger (AS Roma) and Davide Zappacosta (Torino) in last summer.

There’s nothing wrong with this in principle. Conte knows Serie A well, and Alonso and Rudiger have both proved excellent recruits. Admittedly, the jury is still out on Zappacosta. Emerson Palmieri’s imminent arrival will be the fourth from Serie A, but which group will he fall into?

Background

Emerson Palmieri dos Santos, known as either Emerson Palmieri or simply Emerson, is a 23-year-old Brazilian left-back born in Santos. He would be the second Emerson to play for Chelsea, following the great Emerson Thome, who made 21 average appearances at the turn of the century.

Emerson (Palmieri, not Thome), began his professional career for Santos aged 16, after spending his youth career at the club. He stayed there for three seasons until he left for Palermo in Italy. Still young, Emerson signed as a backup and only featured in nine league matches for the club. Palermo passed on their option to buy at the end of that campaign.

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The following season Roma took their chances with the young full back, with the same deal Palermo had done the year prior. His first season at Roma was again as back-up and he only played nine times. But at the beginning of the 2016/17 campaign Emerson was given the opportunity at left-back with an extended run in the team. He duly impressed and Roma made his deal permanent for €2 million in December 2016.

Unfortunately for Emerson, his outstanding breakthrough season ended with an ACL tear in the very last game. He missed most of the first half of the season, only returning to action in November. Since then he has featured just twice, a combination of taking it easy after being out for so long and Aleksandar Kolarov’s performances for Roma in his position in the meantime.

Style of Play

Emerson is a direct and skilful player, with the ability to beat a man easily. As a left-footer, he operated primarily on the left of defence for Roma, but he has also filled in on the right. Emerson’s speed is useful from a defensive point of view as well, as he can bail others and himself out in dangerous situations.

Emerson is not afraid to take on an opposition player, even if in his own half. As the mood suits him he can drop a step-over or a Kenedy Elastico™ on occasions. Time will tell if Antonio Conte moulds his game to concentrate his attacking prowess in the final third.

Emerson’s skillset is completely different to Alonso’s. Alonso is a tall, very strong left wing-back, who is great at outmuscling the opposition and winning aerial duals. Emerson will instead provide Chelsea with another attacking option down the left side, hopefully sucking defenders in and thus providing more space for Eden Hazard.

His speed, tricks and ability to take on a defender could be extremely useful. This transfer would give Antonio Conte two completely different options at left wing-back, which he could deploy depending on the game situation.

Caution

Unfortunately, not all is rosy. Since his debut in 2011, Emerson has only played 61 league games and 89 in total. He has played over 20 games in a season only once. Obviously, he is still a young player, but these totals are worrying. Chelsea will also be hoping that he can have an Azpilicueta-style ACL recovery, rather than a Baba Rahman-style ACL recovery.

Given his offensive orientation, Emerson can be a liability sometimes at the back. With Antonio Conte as a coach, this is hopefully something he can overcome, and complement his attacking threat.

Stats

Emerson’s defensive stats are a bit weaker than Marcos Alonso, fellow transfer target Alex Sandro and Premier League team of the year left-back Danny Rose. He still holds his own in this company, though. His 2.1 interceptions per game is only slightly weaker than Alex Sandro’s, and he has conceded the fewest fouls of the four.

Despite the lack of goals and assists, Emeron’s attacking ability is obvious. His 2.1 average successful dribbles a game is the highest, as is his 88% passing accuracy. Antonio Conte will value both attributes immensely.

Verdict

Because of the relatively-low transfer figures being bandied about for Emerson, this would be solid transfer for Chelsea. The potential reward is high enough to outweigh the risks of a somewhat untested defender.

If Emerson can reclaim the standard of his breakthrough season, Chelsea will come out ahead and his transfer value doubles (at least). His transfer fee then looks like an outright bargain. Having a backup to Marcos Alonso whom Antonio Conte trusts and is willing to play will be a bonus as well, allowing Alonso some much-needed rest.

The worst case scenario is Emerson does not recover properly from his ACL injury and never reaches his 2016/17 heights again. In this instance, Chelsea sell him – probably back to Italy – and take a loss.

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At the very least signing Emerson brings to an end the long running and boring soap opera that was the Alex Sandro transfer. Fingers crossed Emerson Palmieri dos Santos can be a success at Chelsea.