Six players Chelsea could sign before the season begins
By Bryan Martin
Ibrahim Sangare (PSV)
2021/22 Season Stats: 38 matches played, four goals, two assists
Ibrahim Sangare is an ideal transfer target as a defensive midfielder. I know that most Chelsea fans and media pundits are clamoring for the return of West Ham United’s Declan Rice, but as the Hammers become more reluctant to sell, Sangare becomes more alluring.
Sangare is known as an aggressive defensive midfielder who controls his area of the pitch through calculated risk-taking and physicality. I won’t sugarcoat this, he’s not perfect; his tape tells a tale of two players. On one hand, he shows elite levels of defensive prowess and an ability to effectively function as a deep-lying playmaker. On the other, he sometimes lacks focus on the ball and he can be too risky with his passes against more competent defenders.
The big point here is that young, high-upside defensive midfielders are rare. Rice is the exception and Sangare offers an alternative for the Blues, should they want to change to a more permanent 4-3-3. Sangare is a player who is, at the very minimum, slightly above league standard, but he has the potential to become one of the top five defensive midfielders in all of Europe. The big question is whether the investment is worth the gamble. There are still question marks as to whether or not the player’s skills will translate to a more advanced league—only one way to find out.
Matheus Nunes (Sporting CP)
2021/22 Season Stats: 39 matches played, three goals, two assists
Matheus Nunes is a prospect that many teams seem to be scouting, but he remains a relative unknown amongst more casual fans or supporters who really could not care less about what’s going on at Sporting CP. I’m going to be straightforward here—I love Nunes as a prospect.
In the grand scheme of things, he embodies everything that a midfield should be at Chelsea under Tuchel’s system:
- Highly skilled dribbler? Check.
- Experience in a double pivot? Check.
- Elite level distributor? Check.
- High-level presser and creator? Check and check.
Nunes in this team would be a luxury. Any move for him would be heavily dependent on the futures of Jorginho and N’Golo Kante, as well as Connor Gallagher and Billy Gilmour. Nevertheless, the 23-year-old Brazilian fits the archetype of a traditional maestro and he has all the makings of being the next hot name for European midfielders. The outcome here is simple: sign Nunes for a respectable fee, allow him time to develop under the aforementioned veterans and the Blues will have a world class creator for the foreseeable future.