There’s so many question marks when it comes to Chelsea’s midfield options ahead of f the 2024/25 season.
If new Blues head coach Enzo Maresca wants to succeed at Stamford Bridge, he’ll need to quickly find the right formula in the centre of the park.
When you look at the amount of midfield options in the current squad, it’s starting to get a bit overcrowded.
Chelsea can pick from Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Romeo Lavia, Andrey Santos, Cesare Casadei, Lesley Ugochukwu, Conor Gallagher, Carney Chukwuemeka or Cole Palmer to play in a variety of midfield positions.
On top of that, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is widely expected to be leaving Leicester City and completing a move to West London.
The Athletic reported that Chelsea have agreed a £30m transfer deal with Leicester for Dewsbury-Hall.
Surely, at least two of the names of above need to leave in this window either permanently or on loan to keep a good balance in the squad.
The Chelsea Chronicle has below identified the three most likely midfield combinations that Maresca may decide to pick.
Leicester City Manager Enzo Maresca during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Northampton Town and Leicester City at Sixfields on July 15, 2023 .
Option A
Lavia
Fernandez
Caicedo
This first combination is definitely one we expect to see tested at some stage.
Lavia fills the No 6 position here as the deep-lying playmaker, who’s someone that anchors the defence as well as dictates possession. Of course, he missed pretty much the whole of last season through injury, so is going to need time to get up to full speed.
In front of him, Fernandez and Caicedo could be deployed as No 8s. It would be up to them to get up and down the pitch for 90 minutes.
Option B
Fernandez
Caicedo
Dewsbury-Hall
Next, is a 4-3-3 midfield that could be a genuine option for the very start of the 2024/25 campaign.
Fernandez has the technical qualities to operate at the base of midfield and be the past master in a Maresca team.
This could then allow Caicedo and Dewsbury-Hall to roam as the No 8s with incredible energy.
Let’s remember that Dewsbury-Hall was superb in this exact position last season for Leicester, so he could be a secret weapon for Maresca.
Option C
Fernandez, Caicedo, Palmer
Finally, another route we could picture seeing the manager go down is to find a system that accommodates Palmer in a No 10 role.
You can see that we clearly think Fernandez and Caicedo are shoe-ins to make Chelsea’s XI next season, regardless of the formation.
In this plan, the South American duo could partner each other as a midfield two.
Palmer, who was Chelsea’s sensation last year, then drops into a central playmaker role. It’s pretty obvious that he’s a player the Blues will want to get on the ball a lot in the final third of the pitch.
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