Chelsea have had a roller-coaster of a season so far that could further throw a few twists and turns in the coming weeks. The Blues suffered two heavy defeats against teams they should have beaten – Bournemouth and Watford — which made the mood around Stamford Bridge pretty pessimistic.
Antonio Conte’s side, however, mustered a courageous display against Barcelona and if it hadn’t been for a couple of shots smashing the posts, they could have grabbed all the headlines by beating the Blaugrana in the Champions League, something that hasn’t happened so far this season.
Regardless of what happens in the coming months, the summer is going to be tetchy for the Chelsea fans. While Antonio Conte’s future is still unclear, unless the squad is improved, we could see the Blues loitering around the top four.
Last season, Chelsea were helped by the absence of Champions League football but with Manchester United and Manchester City spending millions to fortify their squad, the London side need to ensure they don’t lag behind. That’s where it gets tricky.
Chelsea have sold two key players in the last few months – Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic — and are reportedly looking to sign Christian Pulisic as a potential replacement for Eden Hazard.
Now, that’s a bit too much of speculation, isn’t it? The report from talkSPORT stated that Hazard is being targeted by Real Madrid, so the Blues have earmarked Pulisic as his replacement.
Why Hazard is irreplaceable
Two reasons; the first is simply because there are very few players like him. While Pulisic is a pretty good player in his own right, he more of a player who can be played around a talent like Hazard rather than take up the mantle from the Belgian. Why? Because he doesn’t have the same creative output as Hazard.
The second reason is Pulisic is part of the Borussia Dortmund DNA, something that hasn’t worked out for the likes of Nuri Sahin, Shinji Kagawa, Mario Götze and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. These players functioned well at the club because of the style of play. At Chelsea, it’ll be more pragmatic.
Pulisic has no pressure on his shoulders simply because the style is so proactive at Westfalenstadion. Perhaps he can be signed as a player who can stretch defences and provide width from the wide areas, but as a replacement for Hazard? Doesn’t really make much sense.
