Chelsea target Ezequiel Lavezzi is just not good enough

There is a reason PSG is so anxious to sell Ezequiel Lavezzi to Chelsea

Several years ago the prospect of Chelsea signing PSG wide man Ezequiel Lavezzi would have created major waves in the Premier League. He used to be quite the dynamic presence out on the wing. Unfortunately for Guus Hiddink and company, those days are gone now. PSG is anxious to deal Lavezzi because he simply isn’t good enough to play for them any longer.

The fact that a 30-year-old winger who relies on pace has started to see his skills erode really shouldn’t surprise anyone. 30 is the new magic age where football players who depend on athleticism start to see real decline. Lavezzi is a perfect example of this phenomenon.

He’s been atrocious for PSG this season. He’s only managed to score two goals in 16 league appearances for the French champions and he’s sporting a weak Whoscored.com player rating of just 6.4. That makes him the second worst statistical player at PSG. He did manage to scrape out an advantage of .04 over 18-year-old starlet Jean-Kevin Augustin to avoid the club’s basement.

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To be completely candid, it’s been sometime since Lavezzi has played well enough to be considered an impact player at a club like Chelsea. He hasn’t managed to post a Whoscored.com player rating over 7 since the 2011-12 season, his last with Napoli. He’s always been a player who’s looked bright on the pitch, but has never managed to find a great deal of end product. He’s more flash than actual substance.

Now, he’s barely able to muster the flash any longer. That’s what makes Chelsea’s alleged interest in the PSG man so confounding. I can’t imagine what role Guus Hiddink thinks he can play for the Blues. He certainly won’t play over the in-form Willian and unless Eden Hazard loses an appendage, I still think he’s likely to play over Lavezzi. Even if he were to somehow beat out one of those two wide men, he certainly wouldn’t be a candidate to start ahead of Pedro.

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If Chelsea is truly chasing Lavezzi, we have to ask ourselves the question of how bad things really are at the club. Has the loss of former manager Jose Mourinho really weakened their reputation to the point that they’re forced to chase transfers like Lavezzi and Alexandre Pato? They still are a big club with a huge cash reserve and the ability to pay high wages. They should be aiming much higher even in their current state.

I can understand Chelsea wanting to make some January additions to add as protection against injury, but adding a 30-year-old winger with rapidly diminishing skills isn’t the answer to any of their troubles. Even if Lavezzi were still good enough, at his age he’d be a solid bet to drop off next season. Chelsea must aim better than Ezequiel Lavezzi, who just isn’t good enough to play for the Premier League club.

Is Ezequiel Lavezzi good enough for Chelsea? Who would he play over? Who should Chelsea be signing in the January transfer window? Let your feelings be known in the comments field below.