Chelsea FC: The Blues have been linked with a move for Leicester City’s Danny Drinkwater in the past few days, with reports stating that Leicester want £40m for the Englishman.
Chelsea FC are desperate to add an English player to their ranks in order to meet their homegrown quota. With a lack of talented young English players available and the fact that the Blues have miraculously, and stupidly let go all of their talented young English players on loan or having sold them, the vibe around Stamford Bridge is not exactly carefree.
Chelsea have already had a £15m bid knocked back by Leicester and are moving onto a second bid of around £25m. However Leicester have told Chelsea FC to pay up following their sale of Nemanja Matic for £40m to Manchester United. Leicester know Chelsea are desperate to add a midfielder following the sale of Nathaniel Chalobah and the loan of Ruben Loftus Cheek. So The Blues may have to stump all the cash they got for Matic.
And while most fans and pundits are criticizing the pursuit of Drinkwater, labeling it an unambitious move, I think Conte is smart for targeting the English midfielder.
Drinkwater fulfills the English homegrown need and he would be a great bench player for when Chelsea need to rotate for multiple competitions this season.
The 27-year-old won the Premier League with Leicester two seasons ago, and importantly, played alongside Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante. Drinkwater would need very little time to adapt with his former midfield partner along side him.
Additionally, he is adept at picking out a pass and is intelligent off the ball. He can tackle and intercept and Conte likes his work-rate. He’s the exact type of player Conte likes in the midfield. He offers more defensive abilities than Cesc Fabregas and he offers more attacking threat than former Chelsea player Nemanja Matic. So, while people will no doubt criticize his price tag, he would be a great fourth midfielder signing for Chelsea FC.
I would suspect N’Golo Kante and Tiemoue Bakayoko (when fit) to be the two starting midfielders with Cesc Fabregas as the third option. While Drinkwater would provide backup. However, don’t expect him to sit on the bench all season. I expect Drinkwater to compete with Cesc Fabregas and Bakayoko for the second midfield slot. His work-rate and intelligence are major factors giving him the edge in Conte’s eyes.
The transfer market is indeed skewed this year and any half decent player it seems, is going for around £30-40m. If you want a decent player you have to pay up.
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Chelsea FC have been slow to get their targets this window, after missing out on Romelu Lukaku and Alex Sandro. If the Blues want to appease manager Antonio Conte they are going to have to pay up. Even for Danny Drinkwater.
While it’s true the combative midfielder was average last season, his stats still show how important he was for Leicester. He averaged 2.9 tackles per game and 1.3 interceptions (Whoscored). Interestingly he also averaged 3.7 long balls per game which is key as he would add a different skill set to the Chelsea midfield with his ability to pick out a long pass.
But given Leicester’s dismal season after winning the Premier League it’s not a surprise his stats dropped off a bit.
In the 2015-16 title-winning season, Drinkwater made seven assists and scored two goals. He also averaged three tackles per game and 1.3 key passes per game. He also had an average of 3.9 long passes.
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So, while Drinkwater may not be exactly a world-class signing in the mold of Marco Verratti or Arturo Vidal, he would still be an excellent signing for the Blues. His past experience of playing with N’Golo Kante is also a major contributing factor in Chelsea’s pursuit of him. His attacking prowess along with his defensive stoutness will be pivotal for Chelsea to have ready off the bench.