It’s almost time for Chelsea to return to action.
The Blues will very much undergo a truncated pre-season schedule, having won the Club World Cup on 13 July, surprisingly defeating Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the final in New Jersey.
Thus, Enzo Maresca’s team will have just two pre-season fixtures before their Premier League opener, welcoming Bayer Leverkusen to Stamford Bridge on Friday night, before taking on AC Milan in West London on Sunday.
Before then, will the Blues continue to make more signings?
Chelsea's search for even more attacking talent
Fair to say, Maresca has plenty of attacking options at his disposal.
Estêvão Willian, Jamie Gittens, João Pedro, and Liam Delap have all already arrived this summer, but the Blues are far from done yet, with potentially two new forwards on their way.
First, as reported by James Olley of ESPN, Chelsea are close to signing Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig for a reported fee of €50m (around £44m), with the Dutchman eager to make the move.
Meantime, as reported by Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are still pursuing Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho, adding that “no talks” have begun just yet, but the Argentine is “keen” on the move.
Elsewhere, Romano notes that the transfer is “not expected to be imminent” but that Garanacho is prioritising a move to Chelsea, with the Blues focussing on outgoings for now.
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Garnacho was told to find a new club by manager Rúben Amorim back in May. Currently part of Man United’s infamous ‘bomb squad’, not with the first-team squad in the US, rather left behind at Carrington, alongside fellow outcasts Jadon Sancho, Antony, and Tyrell Malacia.
Just a few weeks ago, it was reported that Man United valued Garnacho at £70m. Still, now that it’s public knowledge he has been cast aside, James Ducker of The Telegraph believes he is available for £40m, with Chelsea in pole position to snap him up.
What Alejandro Garnacho would bring to Chelsea
At the start of the window, Jacob Steinberg of the Guardian reported that Chelsea are ‘prioritising the addition’ of a right-footed left-winger, with Garnacho very much their top target for this role.
His performances for Manchester United have certainly caught the eye, with Statman Dave labelling him one of the two “brightest young talents on the planet” as recently as October, alongside Lamine Yamal, which is high praise indeed.
Elsewhere, Kurosh Moghtader of Total Football Analysis labels him a ‘reliable attacking outlet’ who still has ‘room for improvement’, with Andy Mitten of The Athletic believing his ‘work rate’ and finishing have both got better in recent times.
When looking to compare Garnacho to a former Chelsea player of the not-too-distant past, he is stylistically most similar to Joe Cole.
Like Garnacho, Cole arrived from a Premier League rival as a 22-year-old back in 2003, namely West Ham United, having come through the Hammers’ academy, and made quite an impact during his seven seasons at Stamford Bridge.
In Chelsea blue, Cole made 282 appearances, scoring 39 goals and registering 47 assists, winning three Premier League titles, two FA Cups, and the EFL Cup.
At his best, Tom Mason of The Guardian believes Cole was ‘breathtaking’, praising his ‘creativity, flair, technical ability and vision’, adding that he was ‘always willing to receive a pass and take on the responsibility’.
Meantime, Sam Wallace of the Independent heralds his ‘silky touch’, noting that his best years came under José Mourinho when deployed as a left-winger in a ‘clearly defined’ role.
Well, in Maresca’s current set-up, Garnacho, who was hailed as “electric” by Statman Dave, could certainly thrive in a similar way.
So, let’s assess how Cole at West Ham and Garnacho at Manchester United compare to one another.
Appearances
184
144
Minutes
13,250
8,359
Goals
18
26
Assists
9
22
International caps
10
8
As the table documents, when comparing Garnacho of the present day to Cole just before his move to Chelsea, the Englishman was more experienced, but the Argentine had produced a greater output in terms of goals and assists.
Cole arrived in the summer of 2003 as part of Roman Abramovich’s first spending spree, alongside Claude Makélélé, Hernán Crespo, Adrian Mutu, Juan Sebastián Verón, Scott Parker, Glen Johnson, Alexey Smertin, Geremi, Wayne Bridge, Damien Duff, and many, many others.
Well, 22 years on, Chelsea are adopting a similar approach in the transfer market, and all available evidence suggests that Garnacho could thrive in a similar way.
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