Chelsea preparing bid to sign “aggressive” £51m star

Chelsea continue to be more active than most in the summer transfer window, as we’ve come to expect from them.

Already, the newly-crowned champions of the world have signed eight new first-team players, most notably signing João Pedro, who scored twice in the Club World Cup semi-finals against former side Fluminense, before also finding the target against PSG in the final itself.

Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Estêvão Willian have all also arrived to bolster Enzo Maresca’s attacking options, but are the Blues’ recruitment staff now turning their attention to the defensive end of the pitch?

Chelsea targeting new defenders

As has been widely reported, including by David Ornstein of The Athletic, Chelsea are ‘closing in’ on the signing of Jorrell Hato from Ajax, who will cost around £35m.

Matt Law of the Telegraph notes that the 19-year-old’s arrival will ‘ease some of the burden’ on the Blues’ current first-choice left-back Marc Cucurella, albeit he is also capable of playing centre-back too, having started all five of the Netherlands’ fixtures at this summer’s U21 Euros in that position.

Central defence is certainly a position of need for Chelsea, with none of Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoît Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, Levin Colwill nor the injury-prone Wesley Fofana able to establish themselves as the undisputed first choice.

Thus, according to a report by Tutto Mercato, Chelsea are ‘preparing an initial offer’ to Atalanta, as they seek to sign Giorgio Scalvini, claiming he is valued at €60m (around £51m) by la Dea.

Now might be a good time to leave Bergamo, given that legendary manager Gian Piero Gasperini has departed for Roma, while star attacker Ademola Lookman is on his way to Inter, with top-scorer Mateo Retegui having already been sold to Al-Qadsiah.

Thus, James Richardson of the Totally Football Show is forecasting a difficult campaign for the Bergamasque, now led by Ivan Jurić, who Carl Anka asserts might be the worst Premier League manager of all time.

So, could Scalvini soon swap Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia for Stamford Bridge?

How Giorgio Scalvini would improve Chelsea

Scalvini joined Atalanta as a 12-year-old, accumulating 107 appearances for la Dea, despite suffering an anterior cruciate ligament tear in June 2024, on the eve of the European Championships, which saw him heartbreakingly miss the tournament in Germany.

When he has been on the pitch though, the 21-year-old has earned rave reviews, including from analyst Ben Mattinson, who describes him as “aggressive”, given that he is able to push into midfield and use his outstanding “ball-winning” ability.

Meantime, Akhilesh Ashok of Total Football Analysis believes he is the perfect ‘modern-day central defender’ as he is ‘elegant and technically sound’, also praising his ability to ‘read the game and intercept’ forward passes.

Dharnish Iqbal of Breaking the Lines agrees, impressed by the fact that Scalvini often ‘seizes control of the ball’ by virtue of winning plenty of duels.

So, let’s analyse how he compares to potential future teammate Hato.

As the table documents, Scalvini comes out on top when compared to Hato for all defensive metrics included, when using data from the 2023/24 campaign, given that the Italian missed the vast majority of the most recent season due to injury.

This is not to denigrate Hato, who Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout believes is a “magnificent talent”, while Domagoj Kostanjšak of Total Football Analysis agrees, but notes that the 19-year-old still has a few weaknesses that need to be ‘ironed out and improved upon’.

How much Hato will play at Chelsea next season is also a question mark considering, as outlined by Ahmed Walid of the Athletic, current left-back Cucurella has established himself as one of the club’s most pivotal players.

At centre-back however, as referenced earlier, both positions remain up for grabs, so Scalvini could come in and make an immediate impact, and the Italian certainly boasts the talent to elevate the Blues to the next level.

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BlueCo remain busy in the market.