The ideal Chelsea XI with dream signings in 4-2-3-1
Moises Caicedo, Central midfielder, Ecuador
Chelsea is heavily linked to Caicedo and it’s easy to see why. He’s the perfect midfielder addition to the Blues as he has the perfect blend of passing, ball winning and ball progression skills. The Ecuador international won 77% of his tackles and 58% of all his duels last season.
His ground duel win rate of 57% is only matched by a midfielder that slipped through Todd Boehly’s hands: Manuel Ugarte. Caicedo is also a master as moving the ball up the field, with an impressive 11% of his passes being progressive. He would slot in perfectly alongside Chelsea’s most expensive player.
Enzo Fernandez, Central midfielder, Argentina
Fernandez has shown that he’s one of the best distributors in the league, and it’s immediately clear that he would play a key role for the Blues in many more years to come. Fernandez ranked number one for progressive passes per 90 in the Premier League last season, which is not surprising as he completed 7.4 long passes per game at a 75% completion rate.
Many expect Fernandez to play a direct role in chance creation and that’s not likely to happen, because as much as the World Cup winner got the ball into the final third, he doesn’t get the ball into the penalty area that often. However, Fernandez plus Caicedo makes for a dream midfield indeed.
Rayan Cherki, Right winger, France
This piece highlights everything you need to know about Cherki. He’s one of the best forwards in Europe at the moment, and he’s still only 19. Cherki ranks in the 95th percentile or higher for shot creating actions from live passes and goal creating actions from live passes, as well as some key dribbling and direct chance creation metrics.
One of the most appealing things about the Olympique Lyon forward is his ability to almost always make the right decisions in attacking situations, having created the most big chances for Lyon and gathering the highest expected assists for the club, despite just playing 20.8 90s in the league out of 38. Cherki is needed urgently in Chelsea’s front line.