Defending a title isn’t easy, is it? There are many hurdles to cross. A few of them are to keep the players happy, to have a long term goal, to avoid the over confidence setting in and arguably the most important, is to strengthen the squad or add depth or chop and change in order to be at par with a team’s fellow competitors.
The Champions of the Premier League have been in some amount of speculation regarding the transfers made, both in and out and have been given the tag by many as to not having enough ‘depth’ in their squad to compete in the Champions League and other domestic cups like League cup and FA Cup.
Starting off with the Diego Costa fiasco, where Conte text messaged him and added that he wasn’t in his plans anymore. Meanwhile, Costa waits as he doesn’t want to train with the reserves and desires to go back to Atletico Madrid in January. Chelsea surprisingly sold Nemanja Matic too, directly to their title challengers Manchester United, who were in search of a holding midfielder who can protect the back 4.
In addition to that, they let go of their major men for the future which include Nathaniel Chalobah to Watford, Nathan Ake to Bournemouth and the likes of Kurt Zouma and Ruben Loftus Cheek, on loan deals to Stoke City and Crystal Palace respectively.
Certainly sounds like a big hole is left with the transfer out of these youngsters. Though, Chelsea have signed the talented striker from Madrid in the name of Alvaro Morata, Willy Caballero from Manchester City, Bakayoko from Monaco and Rudiger. Long term goals for Conte? One can support the argument.
But,
Here are a few players Chelsea can sign to add versatility, depth and a better look to their squad before the transfer window closes –
Ross Barkley (Everton) –
A talented youngster, sublime playmaker and gifted enough to use both the feet to an exceptional extent, to strike them from a distance. A quality which Chelsea lacks after the departure of Frank Lampard and now, Nemanja Matic.
He doesn’t fit into Ronald Koeman’s Everton anymore and also to mention, he has been scarred by a couple of injuries in the recent past. He will be a good signing and a number 10 as we all have seen glimpses of him at his best.
He can add on to the vision of passing in the Chelsea line-up, he is physical, technically sound and can take the burden off the shoulders of Fabregas (who is suited to a CM role), Hazard and Willian( who prefer running at defenders from the wings).
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain(Arsenal) –
A player Chelsea have been chasing from quite some transfer windows now. Quick, energetic and electric with his pace, this man can be on a different planet on his day and certainly embarrass defenders at any point in the game.
If Conte is looking to transform Chelsea into a European giant along with an English tag, he needs to invest in outbursting talent like Ox, who has a direct style of play, believes in short, quick and sweet passing and can run with the ball at a breakneck speed.
He has proved his versatile nature too, as when Wenger plays a 3 man defence, he chooses to play Ox as a left wing back. He will be a great buy, especially because Pedro (30) and Willian (29) are not so young anymore, compared to a 24-year-old.
Toby Alderweireld (Spurs) –
The big boy from Belgium is supposedly not happy with the wages offered at Tottenham, as he wants as much as Kane and Lloris, who are paid twice as much as him. (He earns £50,000 a week) Alderweireld is as good a centre back as anyone in the league and along with Jan Vertonghen, they make the best central defensive pair in the league.
He is one of the strongest players in the league, good in the air, barely lets anyone go past him, acrobatic and an aerial threat too. Toby ticks all the boxes a centre back must and has troubled the best strikers in the recent past which include Diego Costa, Christian Benteke and Romelu Lukaku.
As Chelsea have lost their Captain, leader, legend and left out Kurt Zouma, they have been forced to play Andreas Christensen, who looked shaky and nervous against Spurs and is certainly not as competitive for this league yet.