Transfer Story
AS Monaco’s Tiemoue Bakayoko has been on the radar of the Chelsea scouts for quite some time now and it is reported that Conte is vying for the Frenchman’s signature in the summer. As interest from other Premier League clubs mounts on the 22-year-old, Monaco would certainly play hardball in bargaining the right price for the youngster.
The Frenchman is currently tied to his present club till 2019 but with the talisman refusing to pen down a new contract with the club, Monaco would look to cash in on the youngster.
The Monaco midfielder has raised a lot of eyebrows this season with his scintillating performance in both domestic as well as European competitions. He has been a key figure in the midfield for the Ligue 1 club and is reportedly being valued at €50m.
Tiemoue Bakayoko – Player Stats
The 22-year-old Frenchman along with Thomas Lemar has run havoc in the midfield and has been a key figure in Monaco’s league title success after 17 long years. Let’s have a sneak into his stats:-
- The Defensive Midfielder has started 25 of the 32 league appearances for the club scoring 2 and assisting 1 goal in the process.
- The French international presents a commendable 87% pass success rate along with 0.9 shots per game, which shows that he can hold the ball in the midfield and orchestrate the build up of the team as well as support the team when on the offence.
- Bakayoko has an exceptional vision and tactical awareness which could be well understood from his 14 key passes and 56 interceptions that he contributed to his team.
- The Monaco midfielder has also shown his aerial dominance with his physical stature as well as his exquisite dribbling techniques.(Source via WhoScored)
What’ll he bring to the Club?
Conte must be looking to revitalise his squad post the Premier League title triumph, as he could see several key figures leaving his team this summer.
With Diego Costa supposedly subject to interest from Chinese Super League and Real Madrid interested in signing Hazard, Conte must be looking for some high-quality signings.
One can only imagine, Bakayoko partnered with Matic/Kante in the middle would only make the Chelsea team bigger and better. With the ball control and superior passing ability of the Frenchman, it would be tough to steal possession from Chelsea’s midfield.
Also, Conte could rotate his midfield without fearing to wear out player. With Matic, Kante and Bakayoko, Chelsea’s midfield would be enviable.
Worth the Money?
Being valued at €50m seems a tad bit too high though and Chelsea already have Kante, Matic and Fabregas who have all flourished in that role and also done a great job, it does seem unlikely that Chelsea would splash out so much for Bakayoko.
But with Conte’s massive transfer war chest which is said to amount to at least €200m anything is possible and it would be foolish to rule out the move so early.
