Chelsea and the false-nine: Trying to justify a Tammy Abraham loan

Michy Batshuayi’s loan seemingly cleared the way for Tammy Abraham to be Chelsea’s third striker. Rumours of a late loan for Abraham raise a number of questions, ranging from Maurizio Sarri’s plans for other fringe players to whether anyone at the club actually has a plan for anything.

With Ola Aina finally confirmed on loan at Torino, Chelsea have a few players still hovering between a loan, a transfer and the development team. Charly Musonda, Tomas Kalas, Michael Hector and Kenneth Omeruo are nominally with the club, but not in any meaningful sense. Lucas Piazon at least had a decent run through preseason, but was not in the squad against Huddersfield. Whereas Kalas, Hector and Omeruo at least appear on Chelsea’s “On Loan” page, Musonda and Piazon are ghosts at Stamford Bridge. And so is Tammy Abraham.

Tucked into the an article on the latest kinder, gentler change under Maurizio Sarri, The Telegraph’s Sam Wallace mentions Abraham and Musonda could go on loan before the end of the month. This is no surprise for Musonda. But Wallace reports Abraham’s loan may be to a Championship club, making it an absolute debacle for the Englishman.

Most clubs carry three strikers, even if they play a single-striker system. Chelsea have four competitions this season, including the Europa League. They will need options for rest, recovery and rotation even more than usual. Yet their two strikers are a somewhat fragile Alvaro Morata and a robust but aging Olivier Giroud.

Michy Batshuayi’s loan seemed to pave Abraham’s way into the squad. He would be an occasional substitute in the Premier League, a regular sub or starter in the Europa League and the go-to starter for the domestic cups.

It was the perfect progression for a young, homegrown player who had progressed through his loans. He followed up his break-out season in the Championship with a difficult season with a relegated team in the top flight. Swansea’s offensive issues became Abraham’s, but he gained the necessary experience of a full Premier League campaign. He is not ready to lead Chelsea’s line in the league, but he is more than capable of 15 starts and 30-35 appearances as a Blue.

Instead, Abraham could be on the Kasey Palmer / Tomas Kalas yo-yo path. Palmer and Kalas do not deserve that treatment, and Abraham does not either.

Aside from stunting Abraham’s development, loaning him and Batshuayi leaves open the question of what Sarri will do for centre-forward options behind Morata and Giroud. The most obvious is turning to a false nine.

If there is any sense of consistency left among Chelsea fans, the meltdown when Maurizio Sarri tabs Eden Hazard as a false-nine should rank somewhere between Chernobyl and Bill O’Reilly’s “we’ll do it live.”

Hazard as a false-nine was high on every #ConteOut-ers list of repeated Injuries and Usurpations. Sarri’s supporters will point to his use of Dries Mertens at Napoli. While Mertens was successful in that role, it would still compromise Hazard’s best contributions to the offence. And it once again reinforces the presumption – generous to no one – that Sarri’s key to success will be to play [name a Chelsea player] in the [name a Napoli player] role, rather than tailoring a unique plan around the players he has.

Ross Barkley is a more distant option for false-nine, but is an idea worth some merit. Barkley playing anywhere in the front line, whether as a false-nine or a right wing, would also facilitate Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s entrance to the squad.

And then there is Lucas Piazon. A variety of reports on the low-to-medium end of the credibility scale say Sarri has intervened to delay Piazon’s next loan until he makes a full assessment of the Brazilian. Chelsea and Sarri are unlikely to sell Willian at this point, after rejecting three offers from Barcelona and with the window to sell to Manchester United now closed. Sarri very much favours Pedro, Eden Hazard is a given, Callum Hudson-Odoi is in reserve and Ross Barkley is a last-ditch option. That is to say, Chelsea no longer need Piazon as a winger.

Sarri, then, may be considering shifting Piazon to centre-forward, seeing him in the Mertens mould more than Hazard. Piazon is not as fast as Chelsea’s other wingers, and Sarri’s system relies on rapid wingers on the press and on the attack. Piazon tends to drift inside from the wing, often showing up in the centre of the pitch during his preseason appearances.

Coming from his background as a winger, Piazon would bring a different flavour to the role, whereas Tammy Abraham and Michy Batshuayi are both classic-style strikers. This would give Chelsea a bit of a tactical wild card by introducing Piazon in place of Morata or Giroud.

Lucas Piazon has performed consistently well over his lengthy service in the loan army. He certainly deserves a place in the first team or, failing that, a permanent transfer to a club in the “big five” leagues. If Sarri sees potential in Piazon as a centre-forward, it could be this season’s version of Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso taking the world by storm as wing-backs. Such off-beat talent recognition, particularly in a serial loanee, would raise Sarri’s profile around Chelsea and the Premier League.

The Piazon option would also justify another loan for Tammy Abraham. Aside from the squad management and tactics, the whole club benefits when a repeat loanee ascends to the first team. Abraham himself could see the value in a loan if his place in the squad goes to someone who went through a lengthy (too long?) loan journey. He is young enough and has plenty of time to develop and ready himself for a greater impact at Stamford Bridge. Piazon would represent the light at the end of the loan tunnel.

Then again, Chelsea have waited until August 31 to initiate Piazon’s last two loans. They string the poor guy along, giving him all sorts of false hope to go with a heap of uncertainty. Considering how absolutely speculative the foregoing has been, a deadline day loan could still be the plan.

The more certain conclusion is Chelsea would do Abraham a disservice by sending him on a lower-tier loan. Abraham needs to playing first-tier football, either in England, Germany or Spain. The Blues gain nothing in the short-term or long-term from dropping him down a level. Doing so will only hinder his eventual return.