Chelsea’s signing of Xavier Mbuyamba is the sign of a very astute club that knows how to wrap up deals on a potential future star player.
Chelsea finally announced signing of Holland U19 centerback Xavier Mbuyamba from Barcelona on a free transfer. The addition has been in the works for awhile and a welcomed signing by Blues fans. The transfer is a very astute acquisition by the club and to see this, look no further than the price tag. He’s 18 years old and stands a solid 6-foot-5 (1.95 meters), enough to get Chelsea fans excited already. For many reasons, this is a signing that makes great sense not only for the present, but for the future at Stamford Bridge, as well.
It is becoming increasingly clear that having taller central defenders in your team is becoming more and more essential to being successful football club. Witness Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool, the towering central defender who transformed Jurgen Klopp’s team from a rag-tag bunch (along with Alisson) into champions. While not every club has a van Dijk, they all wish they did. Chelsea’s lack of anyone who can help in the air on attacking corner kicks is testimony to the fact that it matters a lot, so the Blues went out and got someone similar to the 29-year-old.
While the Blues can count on Kurt Zouma to be most solid in defense in the air, he is hopeless on attacking corner kicks. At present, they have no one who is proficient in that skill. Mbuyamba’s height makes him automatically a possible contributor in the air later on. He’s not the finished product by any means, but having him at the Academy—training with the Developmental Squad—going forward will be largely beneficial. Chelsea has realized the young man’s potential to add an element to the team that it does not now possess: height.
In addition, if you had had a chance to watch any clips of his play, you will notice instantly that his size is a tremendous asset to his game. He tackles well and he also moves well for such a tall youth defender. As he grows into his body as a physically mature player, the sky is the limit for him. Mbuyamba could very well be a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League in the coming years; a force we’re lucky enough to have in our own ranks.
One might ask why the signing of a young player with mere potential should be such a cause for excitement in Chelsea fans. Clearly, he may never rise to be the player that the club and the fans hope he will be and they would be correct, the failure of youth to pan out is a common occurance.
But the lesson to be learned here is that the young man has a talent that, as they say, cannot be learned. That talent is … his height. You either have it or you don’t and Mbuyamba has it. Who knows, he may still be growing as well. That asset is something at that position that is always an attribute that should be highly valued. Oh yeah, and he just came over from the Barcelona academy; albeit only spending one season there, the Catalonian squad produces some of the world’s best.
This transfer for no cost may or may not ultimately be a roaring success, but when you make the right moves and do the right thing, it’s half the battle. We’ll see later on how it ultimately works out—yet, however it actually unfolds, it is a solid forward-looking action by a club on the move to the top.