The Club World Cup might be a mixed bag for Chelsea at the moment, but next season looks rather exciting.
Enzo Maresca will lead his side into the Champions League for the first time, and be hoping for an even better finish in the Premier League.
The best way for the club to help him with that quest is by delivering him the right players over the coming weeks and months, and while they’ve made a good start, there is still plenty of work to do.
Fortunately, the Blues continue to be linked to dangerous forward Hugo Ekitiké, and if recent reports are to be believed, they are now closing in on another attacker who’d be a dream teammate for him.
Chelsea move for attacking reinforcements
The links between Chelsea and Ekitike first started to pop up around late March of this year while he was scoring for fun for German outfit Eintracht Frankfurt.
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The links then quieted down for a couple of months before resurfacing again this summer, and based on stories from earlier this month, the club have been in talks to sign the Frenchman for around £84m.
There are, of course, other teams vying with the West Londoners for the forward’s signature, with Liverpool one of the more notable competitors, but if the last twenty years have taught us anything, it’s that the Pensioners are good at getting who they want.
However, while the prospect of signing the Frankfurt poacher is certainly exciting, it looks like the Blues are now closing in on another talented attacker from the Bundesliga.
At least, that’s according to a recent report from transfers expert Fabrizio Romano, who has claimed that Chelsea have reached an agreement on personal terms with Jamie Gittens.
However, that does not mean the transfer is sorted, as the Italian journalist reaffirms that an agreement with Borussia Dortmund is yet to be reached.
While Romano does not mention how much the German side want for the dynamic winger, reports from earlier this week revealed that a fee of around £55m could do the trick.
It’s a lot of money, but given Gittens’ ability and potential, this is a transfer Chelsea should be fighting for, especially as he’d be incredible alongside Ekitike.
Why Gittens would be a dream teammate for Ekitike
This was well and truly Ekitike’s breakout year for Frankfurt, as while he’s been good in campaigns prior, he was near enough unstoppable at points for the German outfit this season.
For example, in 48 appearances, totalling 3644 minutes, the young Frenchman was able to score 22 goals and provide 12 assists, which comes out to a brilliant average of a goal involvement every 1.41 games, or every 107.17 minutes.
So, with that said, why would Gittens help get even more out of him? There are two primary reasons, and the first is the Englishman’s output.
Across all competitions this season, the most productive, primarily left-sided winger at Chelsea was Jadon Sancho, who managed to produce 15 goal involvements in 41 games but has returned to Manchester United.
After that, it was Mykhaylo Mudryk, who looks unlikely to feature for some time, and then in third is youth product Tyrique George.
Appearances
49
42
15
25
Minutes
2803′
2426′
849′
1131′
Goals
12
5
3
2
Assists
5
10
5
5
Goal Involvements per Match
0.34
0.35
0.53
0.28
Minutes per Goal Involvements
164.88′
161.73′
106.12′
161.57′
So, in short, somehow, the West Londoners have found themselves looking short on numbers and quality when it comes to out-and-out left-wingers, which are two issues solved by the Dortmund star, as he racked up 17 goal involvements in just 2803 minutes across 49 games this season.
So, it’s not unrealistic to think that he could both help provide the Frankfurt ace with more goalscoring opportunities and get on the end of the chances he creates as well.
Finally, on top of the output, the 20-year-old “difference-maker,” as dubbed by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, also has some genuinely impressive underlying numbers that could be useful for his potential new teammate.
According to FBref, he sits in the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe’s top five leagues for successful take-ons and shot and goal-creating actions from take-ons and then the top 2% for take-ons attempted, all per 90.
This shows that not only is the youngster someone who likes to try and make things happen by himself, but someone who is capable of doing that, and if he’s constantly creating opportunities from out wide, then there will be more space for Ekitike to operate down the middle.
Ultimately, Chelsea should be looking to sign the Frankfurt goal machine, but if they want to get more out of him and dramatically improve their left-hand side, they should sign Gittens alongside him.
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