After spending some big money right until the deadline day, Chelsea’s new manager Antonio Conte has made a decent start to the season and sees his team in the 2nd place in the points table, 11 games into the season. Though a change to the 3-man defense has seen the manager settle into a constant starting lineup, Conte is evidently not happy with the squad at his disposal and wants to replace some of the underperformers in the squad in the next two transfer windows. He has been linked with a move for a number of star European players for different positions in the team and one such player who Chelsea are now ready to bid for is Lazio attacker Felipe Anderson.
Having helped Lazio to a place in the Champions League with an impressive 2013-14 Serie A season, the 23-year old was a transfer target for the likes of Manchester United along with the Stamford Bridge outfit but neither of them were able to lure him out of Italy. However, he has not been able to replicate the form in the last season and. But this season, under Simone Inzaghi, he has helped him find some form at the club and is once again a transfer target for the Blues this January.
A wide-attacker by trait, Anderson (rated at €35.9m) is a gifted and skillful player with loads of pace to burn. He is tremendous with the ball at his feet and can dazzle past opponents with ease. He also knows his way to find the back of the net and is a player who constantly creates problems in the final third. His consistency is something that he will have to work on but Conte will hope that he can turn him into the top class player at Chelsea.
The London outfit has enough attacking options for a team that is absent in Europe and Conte will know that he will not need too many attacking additions going into the second half of the season. But if injuries come calling, the 23-year old Lazio man is more than handy to have in his squad. But that is not where Conte wants Anderson to play for Chelsea. Under Inzaghi at Lazio, Anderson is used as a right-winger, which also a great effect in the manger’s 3-4-3 combination and the Chelsea boss might have been attracted to his performances in the position.
Victor Moses, who currently holds that position in the squad has been decent but Anderson trumps the Nigerian in almost every department. With 4 assists to his name this season compared to just the one from Moses, the Lazio man has been more effective in the final third. He has created almost 4 times the chances that Moses has this season and has also put in double the crosses that the Chelsea man has this season. But with just 30 tackles won, he might not be able to provide the kind of a cover that Moses has, for Conte this season.
But the versatility of the 23-year old will surely be a huge addition to the Chelsea squad that is slowly finding some strong form this season.
Do you think that the Brazilian is a necessity at the Bridge this season?