Chelsea’s willingness to allow Emerson to move back to Italy under Antonio Conte shows the rumors surrounding the Blues are true.
Emerson has seen very little of the pitch the back half of the 2019/20 season. As we head down the home stretch, the Italian international looks to have no future place in the squad. Frank Lampard got so fed up with the mediocre performances from both he and Alonso, the gaffer moved Cesar Azpilicueta to left back to put a band-aid on an ailing position. Alonso has worked his way back into Lampard’s good graces, but Emerson is only seeing the pitch for rotation purposes.
The talks surrounding the club state the Blues are targeting multiple left backs in the summer transfer window—including Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell and Ajax’s Nicolas Tagliafico. These rumors, along with the whispers the club is looking to sell an abundance of players, are proven by Chelsea’s willingness to negotiate a deal for Emerson with Inter Milan.
Lampard quickly picked up on—and consequently decided—who was a part of the club’s future upon his arrival. Emerson earned his audition early on due to his performances under Maurizio Sarri in the previous campaign, but he failed to sweep the new manager off his feet. Whereas players such as Davide Zappacosta and Tiemoue Bakayoko were shipped out on loan, Emerson stuck around to keep left back a two-deep rotation.
In the end, his game didn’t translate well into the Premier League. He’ll do well under Antonio Conte in Milan and all involved parties will benefit from Emerson’s move back to Italy. The Blues’ willingness to now sell Emerson displays their desire to go in another direction. Both Chilwell and Tagliafico are upgrades over the Italian and with him gone, the Blues are going to pursue a top-tier fullback.
Further, this developing deal shows Lampard’s desire to strengthen the squad. Players like Emerson, Pedro and Batshuayi have been faithful servants of the club, but they are no longer needed in west London. Lampard’s pulling the strings and making moves the club should have years ago. The Blues will be better off for this a few seasons down the road.
The board’s backing of these types of sales shows their commitment to backing the first-year manager. You have to spend money to make money and that’s exactly what Chelsea is doing this summer. The Blues are buying world-class players to replace substitutes and then selling the latter to cut the deficit.