Chelsea want to sign £29m star with “Hazard vibes”

The season of 2023/24 was quite a remarkable one for Chelsea who under the noisy reign of Todd Boehly spent an enormous sum of £386.5m, bringing new 12 players to the club.

In order to spend this sum of money, the Blues also had to make £231.6m worth of sales, with 14 players leaving the club on a permanent basis.

Midfield was a key area of investment, with Moises Caicedo, Roméo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu joining the club, just six months after also signing Enzo Fernández from Benfica, strengthening that defensive midfield spot.

But it’s in the attacking midfield that Chelsea got their best bargain of the summer, signing Cole Palmer from Manchester City for a fee of around £40m (plus £2.5m add-ons).

In Palmer’s first season at the club, he beat all expectations that were placed on him following his move from City, scoring a simply ludicrous haul of 25 goals and providing 15 assists in 45 games. His first season at the club saw the Englishman play a mixture of right-wing and attacking midfield.

The 22-year-old has started this season in the same rich vein of form, scoring seven goals and providing five assists in his 13 games played.

Under Enzo Maresca, Palmer is now being primarily used as the number ten, with added build-up responsibilities, and a license to roam and pick up the ball in different areas on the pitch.

However, Chelsea are being linked with a move for a very talented attacking midfielder, which could see Palmer shift back to the right-wing, in order to get both into the same side.

Chelsea want to sign exciting attacking midfielder

According to reports from French outlet Foot Mercato, Rayan Cherki’s asking price has now been revealed. Amid interest from Chelsea, the Lyon attacking midfielder is likely to cost around £29m.

Liverpool are also reported to be interested in the talented Frenchman, which could spark a bidding war between the two.

The 21-year-old, who is said to bring “Eden Hazard vibes” by Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley, has made 11 appearances in all competitions for Lyon this season, scoring two goals, providing three assists, and totalling 614 minutes of action.

So, how does he compare to Palmer and why is it worth moving the Englishman’s position on the pitch to accommodate Cherki?

As we can see, Cherki is an extremely creative number ten type, averaging a whopping 8.38 progressive passes and 3.97 key passes per 90, doing much of his best work in “zone 14” (the term used to describe the central area outside the 18-yard-box).

By shifting Palmer over to the right side, and starting Cherki as the number ten, Chelsea would have two of the best pocket players in the league at their disposal, receiving between the lines, and creating chances for their fellow forwards.

A carry is considered progressive if the ball is moved towards the opponent’s goal at least 10 yards from its starting point or is carried into the penalty area.

However, off-ball work and defensive schemes would possibly suffer, as neither player are too well known for their pressing work.

Maresca would have other problems to solve to make this work in his off-ball set-ups, but the prospect of a Palmer and Cherki central duo at times (Palmer drifting inside from the right) is a mouth-watering one, and one that other Premier League sides would be extremely worried about when defending.