Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Chelsea face a player linked with a move to the club when taking on Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Federico Chiesa was reportedly the subject of a €100m (£86.5m) bid from Chelsea in the summer, with Juventus said to have turned the offer for the Italy international down.
The transfer rumours have resurfaced once more ahead of their Champions League encounter in Group H, with Chiesa set to feature for the hosts as defending champions Chelsea head to Turin a fortnight after beating Zenit 1-0.
It will be the first of two meetings between Chelsea and Juve before Christmas, gifting the former with two direct opportunities to watch Chiesa perform and evaluate whether the pursuit carries on or stops in its tracks.
Either way, the interest marks what has been a 2021 to remember for the 23-year-old, who last year moved to Juve from Fiorentina on a two-year loan deal with an obligation to buy at the end of this season.
From substitute to Euro 2020 Team of the Tournament
Juventus may have endured a frustrating 2020-21, finishing fourth to end their run of nine straight titles and starting even worse this season, but last year’s campaign proved to be one where Chiesa’s stock rose further.
Chiesa proved he is comfortable and confident on the ball with both feet, be it taking on defenders out wide or dribbling inside. His runs off the ball are astute, while his finishes display his array of talents – with four left-footed goals and two headers among his haul of 15 for Juve last season.
Throw in 11 assists to boot and you have a player contributing at least every other game, and having played 24 matches on the left last season and 17 on the right, here is a player adept on playing on both wings too.
Come Euro 2020, his importance grew as the tournament went on, eventually displacing Domenico Berardi in Italy’s starting XI from the quarter-final onwards, having come off the bench in the last-16 encounter against Austria to open the scoring in extra-time.
Chiesa also broke the deadlock against Spain in the semi-final, and though substituted before Italy won on penalties, he was back on the right wing for the start of the final against England at Wembley.
He ultimately ended Euro 2020 with a winners’ medal and a place in the Team of the Tournament, up front along with Romelu Lukaku and Raheem Sterling, and as such his value his risen to £63m per transfermarkt and £60-78m per CIES Football Observatory.
This season, he has made five appearances, scoring once in the recent 3-2 victory over Spezia Calcio as Juve look to get their campaign back on track after failing to win any of their opening four Serie A games.
Where would Chiesa fit in at Chelsea?
Add him to the list of many forward options for Thomas Tuchel – and with the numbers he boasted last season, coupled with his performances for Italy, there will be many placing him high up in the pecking order.
His direct competition would be Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi – essentially fighting for one of the two roles behind Romelu Lukaku in Tuchel’s fancied 3-4-2-1 formation (the 3-5-2 experiment may be short-lived given it resulted in a 1-0 home defeat to Manchester City).
After six Premier League games, Mount and Havertz have started four times, Werner twice, and Ziyech, Pulisic and Hudson-Odoi all once, and Chiesa’s presence would obviously make this department a little more crowded.
That could well reignite rumours of Hudson-Odoi leaving, with Bayern Munich having made multiple offers for him in the past and a loan move to Borussia Dortmund even mooted in the summer, while Ziyech could pose as an attractive swap option for Juventus.
One must also ask whether Chelsea need Chiesa, but at 23, and based on his year so far, he looks like a player who is only going to improve.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3upBRqv
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