Chelsea have spent a significant amount of money rebuilding their midfield unit in the past few years, signing Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernández, Romeo Lavia, Andrey Santos, Cesare Casadei, Carney Chukwuemeka, Lesley Ugochukwu and Kiernan-Dewsbury Hall in the last three seasons.
Both Caicedo and Fernandez cost the club £100m+ each, with the Ecuadorian signing for £115m from Brighton, and the Argentine signing for around £106.8m from Benfica.
But in recent weeks, Fernandez has found himself replaced in the starting XI, with Lavia taking his place, as Enzo Maresca said it gives the side more “physicality” in midfield.
Chelsea's midfield configuration
The season began with all three playing against Manchester City, Lavia and Caicedo taking the deeper midfield roles, and Fernandez playing in a more unusual number ten role, with Cole Palmer starting on the right wing.
Whilst this gave them extra protection in midfield, by doing this, Maresca sacrificed having a 1v1 winger holding width, which is a principle he likes to adopt in his teams.
Therefore, we have now since seen partnerships of both Caicedo with Fernandez and Caicedo with Lavia. Both pairings have offered different qualities, and are better suited for different types of opposition, as has already been seen this season.
Goals
0.00
0.09
0.00
Assists
0.55
0.19
0.27
xAG
0.21
0.15
0.16
Progressive Carries
1.23
0.83
0.54
Progressive Passes
5.19
5.00
2.97
Passes into Final Third
5.31
5.65
5.14
Key Passes
1.98
0.83
1.35
Shot-Creating Actions
3.33
2.50
1.62
Tackles
2.96
3.52
2.97
Blocks
1.11
1.48
1.08
Interceptions
0.44
1.67
1.89
Aerial Duels Won
0.62
1.02
1.35
Fernandez is the most creative of the trio, known for his expansive passing range, which is backed up by the metrics, completing 5.19 progressive passes per 90, and making 1.98 key passes per 90.
A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.
Lavia provides a better dueling ability, being a more mobile midfielder, who covers ground and wins tackles. The former Southampton star averages the most interceptions of the trio, and wins the most aerial duels, adding that extra physicality mentioned by Maresca.
Then, lastly, you have Caicedo, who is in such fine form that he is undroppable. The 23-year-old midfielder has the most tackles and interceptions cominbed in the Premier League this season and has won the second most duels, only behind Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes.
Due to recent decisions by Maresca to field Lavia alongside Caicedo, Fernandez has found himself coming from the bench in some of their recent games, and with speculation brewing that this could cause an upset, Chelsea may well have their alternative already in the pipeline.
Chelsea's young Fernandez alternative
Chelsea’s 17-year-old midfielder, Kiano Dyer, is certainly one to watch having been described as a “special” talent by Chelsea influencer Alex Goldberg.
The young English midfielder has made ten appearances for the Chelsea U21 side this season so far, providing three assists and totalling 849 minutes. His brilliant form has seen him named the Premier League 2 player of the month for October, also being called up to train with the senior squad in recent months.
Dyer is a slightly smaller midfielder – around 5 foot 10 currently – but has the tenacity to win challenges and make tackles in the middle of the park. But his best traits are on the ball, mainly his vision and passing ability, much like Fernandez.
His overall quality at such a young age has already raised eyebrows around the league, with plenty of “leading” clubs now reportedly interested in the midfielder, who believe they can offer him a better and faster route into first-team football than Chelsea.
However, if Fernandez was to force a move away for any reason, Dyer could well be the perfect replacement already in the pipeline, and Chelsea would definitely not want to lose him.
He isn’t the only Cobham star looking to break into the first team this year, as there are three other academy lads who could make their mark if given the chance.
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Chelsea's best young talents at Cobham
One of the best academy talents coming through is 17-year-old Tyrique George, who has already made four appearances this season for the first team, with Jadon Sancho stating he has “the world at his feet”.
The young English winger is a wirey dribbler, who has plenty of quality on his right foot, often cutting inside to curl one into the far corner, a move that is already becoming a trademark of his.
The next is another 17-year-old, Shumaira Mhueka, who signed his first professional contract in October for the Blues. So far this season, the teenager has made 11 appearances for the U21 side, scoring one goal and providing one assist in 751 minutes.
Mhueka is a proper penalty box striker who is brilliant at shifting the ball to create his own shooting angles, has the intelligence to make clever runs in behind and into the box, as well as being a very clinical finisher with brilliant shooting technique.
And the last to be mentioned is 18-year-old, Josh Acheampong, who has recently been frozen out from the Chelsea first team and U21s until he signs a new deal.
The young defender made his senior debut last season under Mauricio Pochettino, and played for the senior side against Barrow this season, as the club tried to show him a route to first-team football.
However, many clubs, as seen with Dyer, believe they can tempt Acheampong away with a better pathway into the first team, offering regular minutes to the youngster.
Chelsea won’t want to lose any of these extremely talented Cobham graduates, but a pathway will have to be established to keep them at the club, to show them they can make it into the first team along with the abundance of other young talent they have acquired in the transfer market over the past few years.
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