Thomas Lemar makes very little sense for Chelsea right now

Chelsea has been linked to a loan-to-buy deal for Thomas Lemar. The longer it is looked at, the less the idea makes sense for Chelsea right now.

The Ligue 1 winning class of Monaco has largely spread throughout the world. Impressive as they were, only about half the team has kicked on to similar successes. The other half has struggled in various ways across the world but the entire team seems to be slowly finding its way to the Premier League.

Thomas Lemar is poised to be the latest with Chelsea and Tottenham linked to a loan-to-buy deal for the winger. His creativity and technique has failed to transfer into the hard working, hard charging Atletico Madrid team.

The deal does not make a great deal of sense for Chelsea however. Lemar, while surely still a good player in the right environment, is simply not what is needed in Blue right now. He also does not make a lot of sense compared to the players Chelsea has also been linked to as of late.

Lemar primarily plays on the left wing but can also play right wing and central midfield. Perhaps part of his struggles at Atletico Madrid have come because of playing in the latter as he is a winger by trade. He was one of the main creative forces for the Monaco team but he truly is not a goal scoring force.

Taking a step back, Chelsea has Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Willian, and (for now) Pedro as options on the wing. Pedro and Hudson-Odoi are the more direct wingers and Pulisic and Willian the more creative. While Frank Lampard has mixed and matched types of wingers, it is possible that he would like two unique types of player on either side.

That would pit Lemar against Willian and Pulisic. Willian will be a matter of contract extension or not. Pulisic is an extremely similar player to Lemar which makes one or the other somewhat redundant. That is not to mention Jadon Sancho, who if he does come to Chelsea, will be guaranteed one of those two spots.

So why would Chelsea want to loan in a winger with a skill set similar to a player they already have? Seemingly he would be a Willian replacement, but it would be just as well to extend Willian as a surer bet rather than get into a loan where anything could happen with Lemar.

The rumor itself even seems shaky. If Lemar’s price tag is only 50 million pounds, why go through the hoops for a loan? It reeks of similarities to the Mateo Kovacic deal but that deal was a unicorn. They are rarely done and it is hard to separate the success of that move from the potential of one for Lemar. It is the same thought process that saw Chelsea buy every (insert nationality here) Lionel Messi in the early 2010s because that profile of player worked out for Barcelona.

Chelsea just does not need a player like Lemar. If Sancho is a long term target, it simply makes far more sense to convince Willian to stay, add Sancho, and stick with Hudson-Odoi and Pulisic. The Blues have their bases covered on the wing and there just is no reason to get caught up in replacing something they already have with Lemar.