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Transfers
What would the signing of Monaco’s Tiemoue Bakayoko bring to Chelsea?
After winning Ligue 1, the French Champions Monaco have received huge figures for some of the key players that helped them achieve the title victory.
Bernardo Silva has already joined Manchester City for £43 million and Benjamin Mendy is set to follow him to the Etihad Stadium, according to .
Meanwhile, teenage star Kylian Mbappe has been linked with a move to almost every top club for a huge sum of money and midfield duo Fabinho, who suggest is set for Manchester United, and Tiemoue Bakayoko, who are crucial to the balance of Monaco’s 4-4-2 formation, have been linked with Premier League sides.
While Fabinho may end up staying in France, Bakayoko looks set to join Premier League champions Chelsea. The Frenchman is set to join the Blues for £45 million, as reported by the .
Although there are suggestions that this move could pave the way for Nemanja Matic to reunite with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, Bakayoko could in fact add depth to the Blues squad, as they now have Champions League football to think about, meaning both midfielders would get a decent amount of game-time.
If Antonio Conte did allow Matic to leave, his replacement is more than capable of fulfilling the same role as the Serbian did last season. Bakayoko, the younger of the duo, is a physical presence on the pitch, while he is also able to get from box-to-box in a similar style to his compatriot, N’Golo Kante.
For Monaco, the 22-year-old was more of a holding midfielder and Fabinho, his partner, was the player tasked with both defensive and offensive duties.
Over the course of last season, Bakayoko found the back of the net twice and made 15 key passes. Yet, his role in the French champions side was not to be the creative spark, Thomas Lemar and Silva shared that baton. Instead, the former Rennes man was tasked with breaking up opposition attacks and keeping the tempo of his team’s passing progress.
He did this superbly, recording the highest pass accuracy of every key player in Monaco’s side – finishing the season with a success rate of 87%, 1,024 accurate passes, while he also won 55% of his attempted duels.
The Frenchman won 56 tackles, 53 headers and beat his man 68% of the time. This is what makes him perfect for Antonio Conte’s side.
His destructive nature, partnered with N’Golo Kante’s persistent pressing, would make Chelsea very strong centrally, while it would allow their flair players like Eden Hazard and Pedro to flourish even more, knowing that they are immensely secure defensively.
Bakayoko is set to be one of six new faces arriving at Stamford Bridge, and while they maybe need a new centre-back and more competition for the striker role, a new midfielder -who is an upgrade on Nemanja Matic – would go a long way to helping Chelsea defend their crown next season.
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