Cesar Azpilicueta will be Chelsea’s most important player next year

Captain of the club, the versatile Spaniard will be the most pivotal member of the squad next year for a multitude of reasons.

Am I being way to bold for my own good? Probably, but I’m absolutely positive that there is no way this will come back to bite me in December. That, my friends, is called sarcasm. So, let us jump into why Cesar Azpilicueta will be Chelsea’s most important player in the upcoming season.

Azpilicueta will make or break the team this season. Chelsea’s question mark is going to be the defense, as it was last season, as well. If Azpilicueta and the crew can martial the defensive side of the game well, it’s much more likely we see a successful season from the Blues. Azpilicueta is going to be a big part of that defensive issue and like it or not, the Spaniard is Chelsea’s most reliable defender at this point in time. With all due respect to guys like Marcos Alonso, Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen, Fikayo Tomori, Emerson and the new additions, he is our best defender.

I’m also writing this before the announcement of Thiago Silva, which looks more and more likely every day. So, if we could all just bury our heads in the sand and pretend like this isn’t happening for the duration of this article, it would be greatly appreciated.

Moving back to the skipper; on top of being the club captain, he’s the most versatile defender at the club. We’ve seen him play all across a back four, and even in a back five or back three. He is a Swiss Army Knife in terms of what he can do for the club in a defensive role. I’ve spoken about the importance of him being able to marshal the defenders, but the best thing he does is lead by example.

Azpilicueta is also the club captain. This suggests he possesses leadership qualities that will be essential to leading a young—but successful—team in the near future. I personally thought he did a good job last year with the captaincy because he was basically running a daycare with all the children around him. He’ll get a bit of help from Silva and Hakim Ziyech this year, but leading this team going into next season is going to be no easy feat. That is going to put more pressure on Azpilicueta in the grand scheme of things. His ability to help lead all the new arrivals is going to be a large factor in Chelsea’s success next year.

Azpilicueta is also going to be important because of his experience as he is the longest-tenured member of the Chelsea first team (not counting the years the English lads spent in the academy, we’re limiting it to first team experience only). His experience around so many young guys is going to be of the upmost importance at the start of the new season with guys like Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Christian Pulsic, Billy Gilmour, Reece James and Fikayo Tomori—all still relatively young—playing important roles.

All in all, this is probably going to come back to bite me when Azpilicueta takes a bit of time to get back in stride and recover from the hamstring injury he suffered in the FA Cup Final against Arsenal. However, I think the case is there to be made. Azpilicueta is going to be important, no doubt, I just do not know if there’s anyone who could be thought of as more important at this point in time. Am I wrong? Maybe, but I encourage you to tell me why and who you think is the most important player going forward.