After allowing Ben Chilwell to leave on loan to Crystal Palace, Chelsea does not currently have a natural replacement for Marc Cucurella at left back. It is hard to believe that a club as big as Chelsea is relying on Malo Gusto to cover both right and left back but help may be on the way in the form of Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth.
The young Hungarian defender has been at Bournemouth for two seasons after starting his career at FC Győr in Hungary before spending two uneventful seasons at AC Milan. After not getting enough minutes for the Rossoneri he made his way to the Netherlands with AZ Alkmaar and began to establish himself as a first team regular.
Kerkez earned his way to the Premier League for an undisclosed fee that is likely less than £10 million, he has become one of Bournemouth’s best young players. This is typical of the smaller Premier League clubs to bring in players like Kerkez for small fees and sell them on for exponentially more to clubs like Chelsea.
Chelsea would have to compete with other big clubs for the 21 year old left back with Liverpool being one of the rivals that reportedly held talks for Kerkez. He is seen as a potential replacement for Andrew Robertson who is turning 31 this year and may be in the back half of his career.
For the Blues, Marc Cucurella is one of the first names on the team sheet but he can’t play every match if Chelsea hopes to compete on four fronts and they need a natural replacement for him. Malo Gusto has done well in covering for both Cucu and Reece James but given the injury problems James has had, there is need for depth at both fullback positions. The easier solution may have been to just keep Ben Chilwell at the club but he is 28 and has had several long injury layoffs since arriving at Chelsea from Leicester City.
Kerkez’s price tag is reportedly just £24 million according to Transfermarkt and that is great value for a player that will have over 50 Premier League appearances after this season. His age is also aligned with the way Chelsea have shifted their transfer policy to focus on younger players that have yet to hit their primes.
The Hungarian is a nice mix of youth and experience as he also made over 60 senior appearances for AZ despite being just 21. Chelsea might have to pay more than the £24 million currently quoted to beat out other rival clubs but getting a known commodity in the Premier League makes it worth the investment.