One of the biggest positives Chelsea have next season is their midfield. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is such an obvious choice to play alongside N’Golo Kante and Jorginho they may overlook him.
With the addition of Jorginho to the midfield, Chelsea made perhaps the one move actually necessary for Maurizio Sarri to get “Sarri-ball” going in the new season. Jorginho is a wonderful midfielder who couples his quick-moving mind with impressive technique and an underrated sense of defensive responsibility.
Making this even more wonderful is Jorginho being exactly what I have said for years about Cesc Fabregas. For Chelsea’s midfield to truly function as it should and always needed to, Fabregas needed to be exactly what Jorginho is. Jorginho has a very similar passing ability, while not forcing the entire team to work overtime to make up for his lack of pace and defensive ability. His interceptions, strong game-reading ability in the defensive third and proper positioning more than make up for any tackles he does not make.
The rest, then, should be simple. N’Golo Kante plays because he is the best midfielder in the world. Everyone knows that. Even Chelsea know that. Surely…
The final piece is similarly easy, deceptively easy, at least it should be. They should play Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the third midfield role and be done with it. The best player Loftus-Cheek compares to is Michael Ballack, although Loftus-Cheek is slightly pacier than the Maybach midfielder of yesteryear.
Loftus-Cheek adds a blend of things Chelsea need to play in the Premier League with Sarri’s style. His pace, athleticism, physicality, height, technique and attacking prowess moving forward will make Chelsea far more dangerous than a lot of the other options people are talking about buying.
Thankfully, the addition of Jorginho means Chelsea are no longer drinking from the poisoned chalice of a tackle-shy, passing defensive midfielder. Jorginho is good enough there. Kante is the human incarnation of an engine and one of the most efficient players of all time. There, I said it. OF. ALL. TIME. But neither Kante nor Jorginho are going to win the ball in the air or make Chelsea more competitive from set pieces. Kante is also not a massive threat moving forward.
Loftus-Cheek, when coupled with the other two, represents a truly perfect match. A Loftus-Cheek – Jorginho – Kante midfield might be one of the best ever in the new Premier League era. And this is precisely why we should all be so fearful Chelsea will ignore it and try another route.
Any other midfield addition under consideration is too much one way or the other. They are either too technical and small and not the right pairing for the Premier League with Kante and Jorginho, or they are the same type of player as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and entirely unnecessary.
Chelsea are actually quite lucky with the current shape of their midfield. They can focus their money and now more-llimited resources on the positions that they need. Of course, they’ve let most of the summer go to waste and idiotically messed up the Willian / Barcelona / Malcom triangle. But there is at least hope that maybe with this midfield in place there will be the double victory of actually winning games and doing it the right way with homegrown talent in the side.
Chelsea should now focus on a proper goalkeeper and a right winger / inverted right forward who can take pressure off Eden Hazard. That would be pretty much it. Another midfielder, no matter who it is, would be a ridiculous misallocation of funds. If they can’t figure this out, Chelsea are lost. They don’t need Gonzalo Higuain. Daniele Rugani would be ridiculous. Miralem Pjanic is too expensive.
Even the Blues of today, who pale by comparison to the shrewd decisive ones of yesteryear, must find this obvious.