Chelsea are trying relatively mild within the midfield division, with Roméo Lavia persevering with to endure from accidents, each Cesare Casadei and Renato Veiga leaving within the January window and a number of different midfielders out on mortgage.
This has seen Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernández beginning virtually each recreation, with many starting to query their workload, frightened of the pair changing into jaded and selecting up an damage.
Fortunately, on deadline day, Enzo Maresca’s facet did handle to make one midfield signing, with Mathis Amougou becoming a member of from St Etienne for a fee of around £12.5m.
However this late scramble may’ve been averted had Chelsea recalled one in every of their two central midfielders out on mortgage, each of whom have proven indicators of functionality in an identical position.
Lesley Ugochukwu is one in every of them however he isn’t the one one. Keep tuned…
How Lesley Ugochukwu is doing at Southampton
Ugochukwu is likely one of the Chelsea midfielders out on mortgage this season. Having joined Southampton on a short lived foundation in the summertime, the 20-year-old has made 18 appearances in all competitions, offering two assists, contributing to 3 clear sheets and totalling 1,029 minutes performed.
Impressively, the French midfielder has been in comparison with Aurelien Tchouameni’s degree of potential, by Liam Twomey from The Athletic, standing at 6 foot 3, overlaying floor in central areas rather well, making excessive numbers of defensive actions – 3.86 tackles per 90 – and being technically astute on the ball to obtain in tight areas.
Regardless of having Ugochukwu as one choice to carry again from mortgage, Southampton’s change in supervisor (Ivan Juric) noticed the French midfielder given extra minutes, which means the Blues determined to maintain him at Southampton for the rest of the season with the intention to assist his growth.
However there was one other midfield possibility out on mortgage who may have returned to have a big impact at Chelsea.
How Andrey Santos compares to Mathis Amougou
Maybe the crown jewel of younger skills acquired by Chelsea and despatched out on mortgage for a number of seasons, is Brazilian midfielder, Andrey Santos. He is not performed a single minute for the Blues but, consequently spending the previous yr at Strasbourg on mortgage.
Throughout all competitions, the 20-year-old star has been “immense” within the phrases of analyst Ben Mattinson. He has made 20 appearances so far this season for the French outfit, scoring eight targets, offering two assists, contributing to 4 clear sheets and that includes for a complete of 1,764 minutes.
When evaluating Santos’s underlying numbers with Chelsea’s new midfield signing – apparently each taking part in in Ligue 1 this season – you’ll be able to see how far forward Santos at present is together with his recreation, being extra snug on the ball, making extra passes, extra progressive actions and finishing extra defensive actions per 90 too.
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Andrey Santos vs Mathis Amougou comparability |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats (per 90 minutes) |
Santos |
Amougou |
|
Targets + Assists |
0.46 |
0.00 |
|
Progressive Carries |
1.02 |
0.84 |
|
Progressive Passes |
4.87 |
3.79 |
|
Passes Tried |
48.6 |
31.7 |
|
Move Completion % |
87.2% |
77.1% |
|
Key Passes |
0.91 |
0.74 |
|
Passes into Pen Space |
0.32 |
0.42 |
|
Tackles |
3.74 |
2.21 |
|
Interceptions |
0.92 |
1.26 |
|
Ball Recoveries |
6.42 |
3.89 |
|
Stats taken from FBref |
||
Santos has been described as a “one-man war machine” by Jacek Kulig up to now, being well-known for being an all-action midfielder, who contributes in all phases, can drop deep to hyperlink play, defend the backline in defensive transition, get caught in to win duels, but additionally arrive within the field and add targets for the workforce.
While Ugochukwu and Santos would have been extra able to contribute now, Chelsea have clearly taken the route of permitting them to finish their mortgage cycles, proceed their growth with constant minutes, earlier than rejoining the squad subsequent season, when Amougou will seemingly obtain a mortgage to assist his growth in an identical manner.
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Chelsea rounded off deadline day with the signing of Mathis Amougou
