The Sun are reporting that Chelsea have gone ahead of Everton, Juventus, Inter Milan and Napoli in the race for Axel Witsel’s signature and the Blues fans in the Transfer Tavern are enjoying seeing their club act quickly to try and bring players in.
It’ll be Antonio Conte’s first season in the Premier League as the manager at Stamford Bridge and many are eagerly awaiting his debut in August after seeing his passionate touchline antics with the Italian national team at EURO 2016.
But whilst he’s been busy coaching his country he’s also managed to begin building his squad in West London, with Witsel the latest name linked.
What’s up for debate though is whether the Belgian is the player Chelsea’s midfield needs?
Undoubtedly a good player, though he’s never reached the heights he perhaps should have and arguably there are other midfielders Conte and the club should prioritise instead.
Our landlord thinks so too and so here are FIVE midfielders the club should sign over the Belgian international.
Radja Nainggolan
Radja Nainggolan outshone his Belgium team-mate Witsel at the European Championships and would be a far better signing for Chelsea.
The Roma man is the perfect modern central player – he’s mobile, physical, passes well and can strike a ball brilliantly too as we’ve seen in this summer’s tournament in France.
He’s got the attributes to be a good Premier League player and the Blues should seriously consider bringing him in instead of Witsel for these reasons.
Saul Niguez
The young Atletico Madrid midfielder is only going to get better and Chelsea would be signing a huge prospect if they went for him over Witsel.
The Spaniard has plenty of years ahead of him and announced himself on the big stage with his goal against Bayern Munich in last season’s Champions League semi-final – showing how far he could go.
Chelsea must bring in players to return them to the Champions League and, simply put, that’s exactly what the Spaniard would do.
Andre Gomes
Andre Gomes had an impressive season in La Liga last season despite his struggling Valenica side and, like the aforementioned Spaniard, he has plenty of time to improve.
Gomes has been an important part of the Portugal set up that won the European Championships, earning links with the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Throw into the mix that Witsel had a relatively quiet tournament you’ve got to think the Italian manager would prefer a player that has shown he can have an influence in the biggest games.
Paul Pogba
This is a no-brainer really.
It doesn’t take a TT expert to profoundly state that Chelsea should sign Paul Pogba.
Still, if he’s available, they should.
In fairness to Witsel few midfielders in world football can compare to the Frenchman’s talent but that’s the way it is and Chelsea have to be looking at a player of his calibre to shake things up in the centre of the park.
The Juventus ace does everything you’d want a midfielder to do, he can be deployed in numerous roles and he’s still only 23 – he trumps his Belgian counterpart in pretty much every department.
Ruben Neves
Big things are expected of Neves who is beginning to attract a lot of attention from clubs around Europe.
Chelsea need to start thinking about the future, a number of their players last season showed they may be getting past their best and Conte seems to think so too with the signing of Michy Batshuayi.
The midfielder Neves would only complement Conte’s thinking and in securing his services Chelsea would be getting one of the best young midfielders out there.
