Nine alternative Chelsea transfer targets Frank Lampard should consider including Tarkowski, Soyuncu Dunk and Digne
CHELSEA have a massive summer ahead as they plan to close the gap on Liverpool and Man City at the top of the Premier League.
Frank Lampard led the Blues to a top four finish and the Champions League in an excellent first season in charge.
Lampard had minimal expectations this season of reaching the top four.
Chelsea managers of yesteryear were sacked over failing to win league titles or impress in the Champions League.
On the other hand, the transfer ban and loss of Eden Hazard meant Lampard’s first season would be considered a success if he made the top four.
But the heat is now on.
Chelsea have already made major moves in attracting Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech to Stamford Bridge, doubly impressive with the pair costing less than £90million combined.
Kai Havertz, one of the most coveted young players in Europe, is also expected to join very soon for a large chest of money.
As SunSport mused earlier this week, those three players are all versatile attackers who open up all kinds of possibilities for Lampard next season.
But – and it’s a very big but – what about the defence?
Chelsea’s defensive problems have been well documented this season and Lampard never found a solution, with a new left-back and at least one centre-back an absolute necessity.
All four centre-backs – Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori – have major flaws, lack leadership and are only consistent in their inconsistency.
Neither left-back, Marcos Alonso or Emerson Palmieri, can defend and both have been linked with the exit door.
Let’s not even start on the goalkeeper, with Kepa needing to be replaced – and probably at a great financial loss.
The FA Cup final defeat once again exposed Chelsea’s porous defence and lack of leaders.
But will Chelsea be able to afford players at those positions – and stay in line with FFP – after moves for Werner, Ziyech and Havertz are completed.
Chelsea have been linked with a host of expensive defenders to fix these problems.
While top class recruits are needed, it will be difficult to pay for the likes of Kalodou Koulibaly or Jose Gimenez as well as a left-back like Ben Chilwell.
Some fans have even mooted selling N’Golo Kante – a legitimate world class talent, one of the very best in his position – to fund moves for other players.
That would also be a massive mistake.
Here are nine players, six centre-backs and three left-backs, who have not really been on Chelsea’s radar but could prove slightly cheaper, and more shrewd, for the Blues.
James Tarkowski (27, Burnley)
Plays for the mightily unfashionable Clarets so instantly there will be calls of ‘he’s not good enough for Chelsea’.
But the difference between someone like Tarkowski and Christensen is that one looks the part while actually being ineffective and error-prone, the other is no-nonsense and top tier in actual defensive skills like marking, tackling and winning his personal battles against the striker.
He may not be the best on the ball and at 27 some may think he’s slightly too old for Chelsea to invest.
But Gary Cahill joined the Blues at a similar age and had the same questions over his ability to make the step up. We all know how that turned out.
If you’re still not convinced, just look at the stats.
Tarkowski ranked in the top five in the Premier League in aerial duels won, clearances and blocks per game.
He is relatively short at 6ft 1in, but won nearly 75 per cent of his aerial battles through the season and was a threat in the opposition box with two goals and two assists.
Of course there would be a tax for an English player, especially with Harry Maguire’s extortionate fee last summer, but if Chelsea can negotiate a fair fee, he would be well worth the investment.
Caglar Soyuncu (24, Leicester City)
Bought for £19million just two summers ago, the Turkish international’s value has at least doubled in that time.
But with good reason.
The former Freiburg star is a powerful defender with all the traits to be a dominant force at the very top level.
Don’t judge him on his post-lockdown performances, his form suffered like the rest of the Leicester squad, but Soyuncu enjoyed a brilliant season before that.
He’s deceptively quick, strong, extremely comfortable in possession and vocal at the back.
Leicester sold Harry Maguire for £80million last summer and his loss wasn’t felt one bit at the King Power.
The biggest mark against Soyuncu is his temperament – but that is something he will hopefully grow out of.
However, the Foxes are in no rush to sell and he would likely fetch a substantial fee.
Lewis Dunk (28, Brighton & Hove Albion)
Football is a team game and so much about being a good centre-back is to have a complimentary partner next to you.
Think of some of Premier League’s great defensive pairings – Tony Adams and Sol Campbel, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic – and think of their contrasting skillsets.
Zouma is arguably Chelsea’s No 1 centre-back, following the alarming drop off in form from Rudiger.
The powerful Frenchman has lots of strengths but two obvious weaknesses: his leadership and organisational skills.
Dunk’s two biggest attributes are exactly those two traits missing from Zouma’s game.
Again, plenty of people will say ‘he’s not good enough for Chelsea’. But those same people have to think about Gary Cahill and the impact he had at the club – even after Terry left.
Jack O’Connell (26, Sheffield United)
It’s incredible that no other clubs have really been linked with O’Connell.
But things don’t come much less fashionable than Chris Wilder’s Blades.
O’Connell has one thing nobody else on this list has – a natural left foot.
Left-sided centre-backs are an absolute rarity in the Premier League and all four of Chelsea’s centre-backs have a major preference to play on the right side.
But signing a player just because of that would be ridiculous – luckily O’Connell is a superb defender with a wide range of passing, great physical attributes and is just entering his prime.
Sheffield United also play a relatively attacking style, so his performances aren’t boosted by playing in a team that sits deep in their own half.
Chelsea know first hand just how dominant he can be.
In that shock defeat at Bramall Lane, O’Connell absolutely dominated Tammy Abraham, won every aerial duel and pocketed the Chelsea No 9.
He was so good that day, and Abraham so bad, that the striker hasn’t started a game since.
Issa Diop (23, West Ham)
The youngest centre-back on this list and also the one with the most still to prove.
The France Under-21 international had a brilliant first season in Claret & Blue but did not build on that in this past campaign.
Brilliant performances one week were punctuated by complete clangers seven days later.
Of the players in this group he is certainly the one with the most potential, given his age, near-perfect physical profile and technical gifts.
But he is also the riskiest option, given his complete lack of consistency.
Hammers team-mate Declan Rice appears to be Chelsea’s top target – Diop would certainly come cheaper and he has a lot more recent experience of being a Premier League centre-back.
Jan Bednarek (24, Southampton)
The Polish centre-back has gone from strength-to-strength this season.
He was awful in the first couple of months but Ralph Hassenhuttl has really turned him around.
Bednarek has great size and is a powerful competitor.
He is lacking when in possession of the ball and would have to make another leap in that department to be up to scratch.
But the blueprint of a fine defender is there for all to see – and he has more than enough time on his side to improve.
Lucas Digne (27, Everton)
Leicester defender Ben Chilwell is obviously the top target.
However, as of this very moment, the only clear advantage Chilwell has over the Everton left-back is his age – at 23 he is four years younger.
Former Barcelona man Digne is a superior player to Chilwell offensively and defensively.
He is much more consistent and he would cost a LOT less.
Only Liverpool star Andy Robertson can claim to be a better Premier League left-back than the Frenchman.
And only Robertson and Reds team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold got more assists as defenders than Digne’s seven.
He has the pace to get up and down, is defensively aware and good in one-on-one situations.
He also has great delivery from crosses and dead-ball situations.
Chilwell has the potential to grow into a better player than Digne, but that may never happen.
Is all that the extra money worth it to find out?
Ramy Bensebaini (25, Borussia Monchengladbach)
The Algerian is not hugely well known on these shores, but he’s a very capable player in a good Gladbach team.
Still coming into his prime, Bensebaini is not an elite level left-back – though he could yet become one.
But where Chelsea currently have two flawed left-backs with very similar styles in Alonso and Emerson, perhaps introducing Bensebaini would reap some benefit.
The former Rennes defender is much more in the style of Azpilicueta, a defence-first stopper capable of locking up the very best wingers.
If Lampard were to keep Alonso and add Bensebaini, he could rotate the pair, much like he does with Azpi and Reece James, to offer different solutions to the opposition.
Alonso could play in games when Chelsea face teams who like to dig in deep, while Bensebaini could take that job when Chelsea need to be more defensive away from home or against the best.
It’s not perfect, but the is no bigger shortage in world football than elite full-backs.
Owen Wijndal (20, AZ Alkmaar)
The Dutchman has massive, massive potential.
He’s already making waves in the Eredivisie and has been called up to the Dutch national team.
Ajax and Paris Saint-Germain are linked with a player many expect to become one of the very best in the coming years.
At his age, Wijndal has pretty much everything.
He’s extremely quick and totally comfortable having the ball at his feet – quite often dropping into central midfield.
His overlapping play brought an impressive eight assists this season, thanks to some pin-point first-time crossing.
Wijndal has the tools to become a truly great player.
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However, players at his age are prone to mistakes and Wijndal has some flaws to his game.
He is overly aggressive, which can reap dividends sometimes but when he misjudges or mistimes a tackle leaves the rest of his team exposed.
There have also been a couple of examples where his lack of concentration and slow reaction time have allowed the man he was marking to leave him and have a scoring opportunity.
But if Chelsea want to go the youth and potential route, it would appear Wijndal has as much as any left-back in world football.