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21/12/2022 | 08:15pm
Chelsea have acquired a regarding damage blow simply days away from their return to aggressive motion, following the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
What’s the newest?
£75m summer season signing Wesley Fofana has been shackled to the medical room for a big proportion of his time in Chelsea colors, having beforehand been sidelined after a knee drawback.
And now, Soccer London experiences that the centre-back suffered but extra harm to the knee in Chelsea’s conclusive midseason pleasant fixture towards Brentford.
Being withdrawn due to the difficulty, Blues boss Graham Potter will undoubtedly be gravely involved over the 22-year-old’s availability following the ultimate preparations forward of the restart, with the membership at present languishing in eighth place within the Premier League.
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Enter Gvardiol
Fofana has made simply six appearances for Chelsea since arriving from Leicester Metropolis earlier this 12 months, seeing his endeavours halted following an damage sustained towards AC Milan in October.
Potter will now be fearful that the difficulty suffered towards Brentford will allude to a recurring subject, which can severely hamper his progress on the membership additional.
As per Sofascore, the Frenchman has accomplished 88% of his passes within the Premier League for Chelsea, making 1.8 tackles, 3.5 interceptions and 1.8 clearances, and FBref additionally highlights some spectacular metrics from the “beast” – as dubbed by Arlo White – rating him inside the high 7% for interceptions and the highest 10% for aerials received, when in comparison with centre-backs throughout Europe’s top-five leagues this previous 12 months.
One ray of sunshine that will stem from that is the acceleration of switch plans regarding Chelsea’s curiosity in World Cup star Josko Gvardiol.
Gvardiol, who clinched third place on the 2022 version in Qatar with Croatia, has been on the centre of experiences stating that Chelsea are among the many suitors for his signature.
As per Sofascore, the 20-year-old phenom averaged a sterling ranking of seven.16 for his nation, maintaining two clear sheets and enjoying a definitive position within the institution of Croatia among the many very elite footballing nations at current.
For RB Leipzig, Gvardiol has made 19 appearances this time period, scoring one aim, and has already cemented his stature as one of the crucial touted centre-backs within the sport regardless of his tender age and amid Fofana’s newest setback, he might be the reply to Chelsea’s woes.
Even when the Frenchman return to health and type quickly, the Blues should not be deterred from securing their man, with Gvardiol greater than able to forming a seamlessly formidable partnership with the injured colossus.
In spite of everything, this can be a participant who’s already among the many elite, even being dubbed the “Haaland of defenders” by scout Jacek Kulig.
Additional described as a “monster” by one journalist, Gvardiol might be the important thing to turning the flagging fortunes round, the defender, now valued by Leipzig at €80m (£70m) turns into a goal that merely have to be signed.