Chelsea: Alphonso Davies is the solution for left back

Alphonso Davies has set the Bundesliga on fire since the German league returned. Chelsea would be wise to strike a deal with Bayern Munich.

Much has been made of Chelsea’s approach of Leicester’s Englishman Ben Chilwell in recent weeks but with the asking price creeping towards three figures, the Blues seem to have cooled their desire.

Real Madrid’s Sergio Reguilon then popped up as a possible alternative to Chilwell as, according to The Guardian, the 23-year-old Spanish left back is available for a paltry £18 million. If Reguilon is available for that price, then it is a no brainer for Frank Lampard and the Blues.

However, it is time to add another name into the left back mix, and that is the name of 19-year-old Canadian phenom, Alphonso Davies. The Bayern Munich left back struggled to get into the Bavarian team consistently before some injuries aided the youngster and 2019/20 proved to be his breakout season. Now Davies is one of the first names on the team sheet and, as an alternative to Ben Chilwell, Davies checks a lot of boxes Lampard is looking for.

Throughout the course of Lampard’s first season at Stamford Bridge he has tried to get Chelsea to play with a fluidity and speed that escaped them under the management of Maurizio Sarri. Speed is one thing that Davies has by the bucket load, setting a new record as the fastest player in the Bundesliga, reaching speeds of 22.7 miles per hour in a game. Adding a speed demon in Alphonso Davies to the likes of Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi would strike fear into the hearts of any opponent.

His age is another plus. At just 19 years old, Davies would come into the left back role and make it his own for the foreseeable future. Lampard would have a tried and tested youngster that he can rely on.

As Chelsea fans have seen throughout the 2019/20 season Lampard likes tactical flexibility in his team. He has deployed systems that have had three at the back with wing backs as well as the more traditional four at the back. Lampard is also one that likes his players to be able to be deployed in a variety of positions; that is one of the reasons that Lampard favors Mason Mount so much, and why the purchase of Hakim Ziyech makes so much sense. Both players can play across the attack, allowing Lampard to make adjustments on the fly without having to make substitutions. Alphonso Davies possesses that same ability as he can play as a left back, left wingback as well as the occasional foray up at left wing.

At left wing, Chelsea has the option of playing either Timo Werner or Christian Pulisic. While most expect Werner through the middle and Pulisic romping down the left flank, the Blues have little outside of the American on the left.

Callum Hudson-Odoi normally sticks to the right side, while the departures of Willian and Pedro leave the Blues perilously short in that position. Davies is not a solution to the lack of left wing depth by any means, but he is a very good stop gap until the Blues find a solution to deputize for Pulisic.

Another arrow in Davies’ quiver is his work-rate. Chelsea fans have been left to lament the effort of current left backs Marcos Alonso and Emerson. In the modern game, the fullbacks are required to be constantly moving up and down the flank. In Alonso and Emerson, Chelsea has two players that love to get forward but offer little going back.

It might seem redundant to say, but a defender’s primary job in a team is to, well, defend and Chelsea have managed to get themselves in a position where they have sold all of their defense first mentality left backs.

Since Ashley Cole, Chelsea have had one excellent “defense first’”left back in Cesar Azpilicueta who know holds down Chelsea’s right flank and Filipe Luis who was a very good defender shipped out with no cover brought in to replace him.

Alphonso Davies, for all of his blistering pace, is a “defense first” type player. While he possesses a natural flair and ability going forward thanks to his Vancouver Whitecaps days, at Bayern he has grown into his defense role and its requirements.

All of this may sound excellent to Chelsea fans but it will not come cheap. Davies just signed a new deal at Bayern in April 2020 that runs until 2025 and transfermarkt currently lists his market value at $66 million, and the third most valuable left back in the world, only behind that of David Alaba and Andrew Robertson. For argument’s sake, Ben Chilwell comes in at No. 5 on the list with a market value of $44 million and going down. Of course, these market values do not necessarily reflect what clubs will demand for players, as there is no chance that Leicester would even consider looking at any deal for Ben Chilwell in the range of $44 million.

Chilwell will likely cost much closer to £100 million, and Davies the same. On recent form there is only one player for the taking, expect Alphonso Davies to take the Premier League by storm.