Chelsea Matters #2

In issue #2 of my Chelsea Matters weekly blog I look at the win over Leicester on Saturday, the discussion regarding Diego Costa's future at the club, our next match and the rumours around the transfer market.

1 – Results

2 – Diego Costa

3 – Next Match

4 – Transfer Market

1 – RESULTS

Leicester City 0-3 Chelsea, away in English Premier League

Alonso 6, 51, Pedro 71

Team: Courtois / Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill / Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso / Willian, Hazard, Pedro Subs: 79 Fabregas for Hazard, 84 Loftus-Cheek for Pedro, 84 Batshuayi for Willian Booked: None

Although we bounced back from the 2-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur with a 4-1 win over Peterborough United in the FA Cup it was good to get our form back on track in the league this weekend. The reigning champions made the mistake of matching our formation with three centre backs and two wing backs which for them was an unfamiliar system. It also meant that former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri played several of his key players outside their regular positions, most notably central midfielder Danny Drinkwater who was shifted to right wing back. In his time at Chelsea Ranieri was known as the Tinkerman but he picked the wrong match to tinker with his tried and tested Leicester formation.

Marcos Alonso two goals six minutes into each half to send Chelsea to victory. His first was a great finish after excellent work and vision from Eden Hazard. For much of the match the Spaniard would torment Drinkwater as the bulk of the play went down the left wing. After a slow start though Leicester had a good end to the first half and would have thought they were still in with a chance going in 1-0 down at half time. Six minutes into the second half Alonso struck again from outside the box as Leicester failed to clear the ball from a free kick. His shot was going straight to Foxes' keeper Kasper Schmeichel but a deflection off of Wes Morgan took it past the Danish international. Pedro added a third with nineteen minutes to go and for me the Spanish winger was the Man of the Match even though Alonso was on the scoresheet twice. Pedro's goal was exquisite with a unique and creative touch setting Willian free on the right of the box and then heading the resulting cross into the unguarded net after Schmeichel came out to challenge Willian.

It's the second time that we've won 3-0 without a recognised striker after doing the same against Bournemouth on Boxing Day when Costa was suspended. It's okay doing that against teams in the lower half of the table but with Liverpool and Arsenal coming up in late January and early February we need to play a striker.

2 – Diego Costa

As I write this on Saturday night there is still confusion over why Costa was dropped from the squad to face Leicester City. Was it to do with a falling out with a coach regarding his fitness of was it due to an offer for the Spanish striker's services from another wealthy Chinese club? We can only speculate after Chelsea declined to comment to the BBC but what we do know is that it isn't good news for Chelsea. The irony is that six months ago I would have been delighted with the news. When the 28 year-old first arrived from Atletico Madrid in July 2014 for £32m I was delighted as he formed a formidable partnership with Cesc Fabregas with the latter creating a number of goals for the striker. As time went on though his fighting attitude caused more problems than his goals solved and he was lucky on countless occasions not to receive a red card or a second yellow. Between his arrival and when Antonio Conte took over I'd estimate a good six to ten occasions where Costa should probably have been dismissed before the end of the match. He was the same at the start of the season where he scored winning goals after he should have received a second yellow card with fair officiating. After that though Conte managed to change Costa's attitude and he went from a fighter to a footballer seemingly overnight. I now think that Jose Mourinho was the problem with Costa all along and with the right man in charge now we finally had the striker we deserved when we paid £32m two and a half years ago now. So now that I've grown to love Costa again I really don't want him to leave.

Just because there's a rumour of him leaving it doesn't mean he will of course but both Oscar and John Obi Mikel have recently left for Chinese clubs where they can earn enough in one season to cover many more in Europe. I've said before that I can understand players like Carlos Tevez going there at the end of their careers just like I could with David Beckham going to MLS and Gary Lineker going to J-League back in the 90s. The Chinese clubs at the moment though are attracting players in their prime footballing years with the promise of great wealth but at what expense to their career. If someone like Oscar for example feels that he can earn enough in a couple of years in China to cover his career and then come back to Europe to until he hangs up his boots does he think that clubs like Juventus (who were rumoured to be chasing him) will still hold him in such high regard? I'm not so sure and the same can be said for players like Hulk and Ramires that are already over there. So if I was Diego Costa I would be considering whether wealth was more important than my legacy (and the same for all of these players in their prime). It's not as though footballers in the Premier League or indeed any of the major leagues in Europe get paid the same as the average Joe in the street and then are being offered millions to go to China. These players are already paid a fortune so to sacrifice what I believe to be the credibility of their careers over even more money is nothing but greed.

“I could have won three Premier League titles with one club and La Liga with another but instead I played in China for a few years and won a trophy there” - doesn't sound so great does it.

Whether it be for China or a club in any other league I hope Costa stays and this rumour is just a storm in a teacup because he really has been a great example of what a Chelsea striker should be like lately and the fans deserve to see more of that. He understands Conte's system and we have very few options at the moment. They are:

a) Eden Hazard to play there like against Bournemouth and Leicester City but that is no long term solution

b) Michy Batshuayi was bought for £33m in the summer as back-up to Costa but Conte doesn't trust him

c) Chelsea have recalled Patrick Bamford from his loan spell at Burnley but the 23 year-old hasn't looked the player in loans spells at the Clarets, Crystal Palace and Norwich City that he did at Middlesbrough in 2014/15 when he netted 19 goals in 44 games.

d) There were rumours last week of signing Swansea City striker Fernando Llorente as back-up to Costa but the 31 year-old cannot be seen as a long term replacement for his countryman

3 – Possible New Strikers

So let's consider our options if Conte does leave and we have to buy a replacement. Personally I think it's just wild media speculation and he will stay but it's nice to play devil's advocate. We have to appreciate that any deal for Costa should be well in excess of the Oscar fee so personally I'd look for £100m even though I've seen press reports of £80m. With that money and our acquired wealth to date we should have enough to purchase pretty much anyone but who are our options. Here are ten of the possible picks in no particular order.

I've used the values from Transfermarkt.com which for comparison puts Costa at £38.25m.

Name – Robert Lewandowski

Age – 28

Nationality – Polish, 85 caps, 42 goals

Club – Bayern Munich Previous Clubs – Borussia Dortmund, Lech Poznan, Znicz Pruczkow

Value – £63.75m

Honours – 4x German Bundesliga titles, 2x German cups, 1x Polish league title, 1x Polish cup, 5x Polish Footballer of the Year, 2x Bundesliga top scorer, Best Player of Euro 2016 Qualifying

The Bayern striker is one of the more unlikely names on the list but a world record bid for the Polish hit man would surely make the Bundesliga leaders consider it. If ever a deal was going to be considered by them I believe it would be in the summer especially when they are still in the UEFA Champions League but the one thing about buying a player like this now is that we don't have to worry about them being cup tied in Europe this season.

Name – Harry Kane

Age – 23

Nationality – English, 17 caps, 5 goals

Club – Tottenham Hotspur

Previous Clubs – Loans at Leicester City, Norwich City, Millwall and Leyton Orient

Value – £34m

Honours – PFA Young Player of the Year 2014/15, EPL Top Scorer 2015/16

I think the only striker in the EPL that I'd choose above Kane to replace Costa would be Sergio Aguero and let's face it the fee for both would be astronomical. I've included Kane on the list though as he's the right age, his playing style would suit the new Chelsea formation and he's still developing so will be even more lethal in the future. Spurs are building a great team at White Hart Lane though and would never allow their talisman striker to join a rival. Or would they?

Name – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Age – 27

Nationality – Gabonese, 53 caps, 22 goals

Club – Borussia Dortmund

Previous Clubs – St. Etienne, AC Milan (Loaned to Monaco, Lille and Dijon)

Value – £38.25m

Honours – 1x French league cup, 1x German super cup, African Footballer of the Year 2015, Bundesliga Player of the Year 2015/16

The Dortmund striker has been rumoured for a move the the Premier League for a couple of seasons now with Arsenal one of his previous suitors but I believe he would be an ideal fit for Chelsea. He has plenty of pace and a great touch which I can imagine working well with the counter attacking speed of Hazard and Pedro or Willian. Certainly one of the more likely candidates on here as he was rumoured in October 2016 but there has been no mention since.

Name – Thomas Muller

Age – 27

Nationality – German, 83 caps, 36 goals

Club – Bayern Munich

Previous Clubs - None

Value – £63.75m

Honours – 1x Champions League, 1x FIFA World Club Cup, 1x UEFA Super Cup, 5x German Bundesliga titles, 4x German cups, 1x FIFA World Cup, 1x FIFA World Cup Golden Boot, 1x FIFA World Cup Best Young Player, 1x World Soccer Young Player of the Year

I would normally have said this is one of the least likely transfers to come off when compiling the list especially with Muller being a Munich career man but it has been rumoured in the media. The Daily Express reports Chelsea plotting a £75m for the German international. I always see Muller as a very intelligent footballer and therefore again he would fit well with a more complex system where his role would not only be to score goals but to link play as well.

Name – Gonzalo Higuain

Age – 29

Nationality – Argentine, 67 caps, 31 goals

Club – Juventus

Previous Clubs – Napoli, Real Madrid, River Plate

Value – £63.75m

Honours – 3x Spanish La Liga titles, 1x Spanish cup, 1x Italian cup, 1x Serie A Top Scorer 2015/16

Higuain is my favourite striker in the world and I would have loved for us to have bought him last summer. He was even linked with us in the press before his £80m transfer to Juventus and since then he already has 15 goals in 23 games. The chances of him leaving Juve any time soon are slim and by then he will be too old for Chelsea so apart from on FIFA or Football Manager I've missed my chance to see my favourite striker at Stamford Bridge (in a blue shirt anyway).

Name – Paulo Dybala

Age – 23

Nationality – Argentine, 6 caps, 0 goals

Club – Juventus

Previous Clubs – Palermo, Instituto

Value – £38.25

Honours – 1x Italian Serie A title, 1x Italian Serie B title, 1x Italian cup, 1x Serie A Top Assist Provider 2014/15

Dybala is not a player that has been on my radar for a long time. Indeed I'd probably say I hadn't heard of him 18-24 months ago but since he joined Juventus in 2015 for £35m he's become one of the most talked about young players in Europe. He averaged a goal every two games for Juve last season but has had less opportunities this season with Higuain in his way. A move to Chelsea if Costa leaves could be the ideal way back into first team football but there is a risk he would be another Batshuayi. The Belgian striker has undoubted talent but if he's struggling to get to grips with the league he is playing in then he is of no use and we would not want two players with the same problem. As a side note here it seems Batshuayi needs what Lukaku had with decent loans to Premier League clubs. Dybala apparently rejected Chelsea before joining Juventus according to this Express article after we bid nearly £30m for him in 2015.

Name – Alvaro Morata

Age – 24

Nationality – Spanish, 18 caps, 8 goals

Club – Real Madrid

Previous Clubs – Juventus and formerly with Real Madrid

Value – £34m

Honours – 1x Champions League, 1x FIFA World Club Cup, 1x UEFA Super Cup, 2x Italian Serie A titles, 1x Spanish La Liga title, 2x Italian cups, 2x Spanish cups, 1x FIFA U17 World Cup, 1x U19 European Champions, 1x U21 European Champions

The young Spaniard is another player being rumoured as a replacement for Costa should he leave for China with this Metro article from Saturday a prime example. It also mentions Romelu Lukaku who I haven't included on this list as we already know what he his capable of and personally I'm not sure if he has the mentality we need. Back to Morata though and he would be another great player to have but has he proven himself enough to show that he could be our main striker? His medal cabinet would certainly say yes with every major club trophy from international, Italy and Spain apart from a Europa League winner.

Name – Antoine Griezmann

Age – 25

Nationality – French, 39 caps, 14 goals

Club – Atletico Madrid

Previous Clubs – Real Sociedad

Value – £68m

Honours – 1x Spanish Segunda title, 1x Spanish super cup, 1x U19 European Champions, 1x La Liga Best Player 2016, 1x Euro 2016 Player of the Tournament, 1x French Player of the Year, 1x Euro 2016 Golden Boot

If Griezmann is not a Manchester United player this time next year I will be very surprised but he is one of the best forwards in Europe right now so still deserves to be on the list. He hasn't been rumoured to replace Costa other than appearing on various lists (like this one) of possible players that should do so. He is a great talent and would be welcome at Stamford Bridge but it would be one hell of a coup if we got him either now or in the summer.

Name – Edinson Cavani

Age – 29

Nationality – Uruguayan, 89 caps, 37 goals

Club – Paris St Germain

Previous Clubs – Napoli, Palermo, Danubio

Value – £34m

Honours – 3x French Ligue 1 titles, 2x French cups, 3x French league cups, 1x Italian cup, 1x Uruguayan league title, 1x Copa America, 1x Serie A top scorer 2012/13

The PSG striker continues to be linked with Arsenal but surely he would also be ideally suited for Chelsea if he were considering a move to the Premier League? His records at PSG and Napoli have been fantastic with 105 goals in 173 games for the former and an even better 104 goals in 138 games for the latter. He would be cheaper than some of the more considered names on the list as well.

Name – Luis Suarez

Age – 29

Nationality – Uruguayan, 90 caps, 47 goals

Club – Barcelona

Previous Clubs – Liverpool, Ajax, Groningen, Nacional

Value – £76.5m

Honours – 1x Champions League, 1x FIFA World Club Cup, 1x UEFA Super Cup, 2x Spanish La Liga titles, 2x Spanish cups, 1x English League Cup, 1x Dutch Eredivisie title, 1x Uruguayan league title, 1x Copa America, 1x PFA Player of the Year, 2x European Golden Shoe, 1x Premier League Golden Boot, 1x Copa America Player of the Tournament

I'm finishing with one that will never happen for a whole host of reasons but in pure football terms would make perfect sense. He is undoubtedly one of the top five strikers in the world and as good as he is with Neymar and Lionel Messia on either side of him he would be just as good with Hazard and Pedro. Of course there's his bite on Branislav Ivanovic and the fact that he played for our rivals Liverpool. Still it doesn't stop the Daily Star from suggesting that the Uruguayan could be coming to London and that's before the Costa incident caught the news. Let's face it with Conte finally calming Costa and John Terry ready to retire we don't need a step backwards with our volatile characters so I think this is one deal best left alone.

4 – Next Match

Chelsea go into next weekend's Premier League fixtures with a seven point lead over Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool. Spurs beat West Bromwich Albion 4-0 while Liverpool were held to a draw at Old Trafford by a late Zlatan Ibrahimovic header.

Next Sunday we play Hull City at Stamford Bridge in a 4:30pm kick off. Whether Diego Costa is in the XI remains to be seen. The Tigers won this weekend 3-1 at home to Bournemouth which was their first win since 6th November 2016 when the beat Southampton 2-1. In the nine league matches in between they only picked up three points which saw Mike Phelan sacked and replaced by Marco Silva. The Portuguese manager won his first match in charge therefore with a brace from Uruguayan striker Abel Hernandez and an own goal scored by Tyrone Mings. Despite the win Hull remain in the relegation zone but are now 18th on 16 points rather than 20th on 13.

The last time Hull won away from home in the league it was against Swansea City on 20th August 2016, their second game of the season. That was one of their four league wins this season and their only victories on the road since have been in the League Cup against Exeter City, Stoke City and Bristol City.

Chelsea have the second best defence in the league with 15 goals conceded (Spurs are on 14) while Hull are the joint third lowest scorers in the league on 20 goals level with Sunderland (Middlesbrough are on 17 and Southampton on 19). There are excellent signs therefore for a Chelsea win with a clean sheet.

Bookings List

6 – Pedro (suspension served)

5 – Kante (suspension served), Costa (suspension served)

4 – Fabregas, Luiz, Matic

3 – Azpilicueta, Moses

2 – Alonso, Cahill, Hazard, Ivanovic,Willian

1 – Chalobah, Courtois, Terry

Later matches: 28/1/17 – Brentford – H – F A Cup 4th Round

31/1/17 – Liverpool – A – League

4/2/17 – Arsenal – H – League

12/2/17 – Burnley – A – League

25/2/17 – Swansea City – H - League

5 – Transfer Market

The was a very loose connection between Serge Gnabry and a move to Chelsea in the Metro

where he said ‘What if Chelsea or Arsenal come knocking? Well, at the moment I’m trying to give everything to Werder' and they took that as a hint of a move to Chelsea!

With Diego Costa left out of the side to face Leicester City this weekend most of the newspaper gossip has been about potential replacements and I've covered those in section 3 above.