Chelsea to gift world's best left-back to Mauricio Pochettino
As Mauricio Pochettino looks to strengthen his Chelsea team, the Blues are contemplating a move for Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies.
After a disappointing start to the season, the Blues are now in ninth position in the Premier League. If Chelsea are unable to sell any unneeded players, they will be unable to fund their January reinforcements for Pochettino.
To that end, the team’s struggles this season have mostly originated at left-back. Their first choice without a doubt, Ben Chilwell is plagued by injury issues.
In the Blues’ 1-0 home Premier League win over Fulham, he made his comeback to play.
Ian Maatsen also recently moved to Borussia Dortmund on loan due to the trouble getting first-team minutes. The fullback, however, extended his deal until 2026 before moving to the Bundesliga.
To make things worse, Marc Cucurella has been out since December with an ankle injury and will certainly miss some time. Moreover, the Spaniard hasn’t been very impressive while healthy owing to his erratic play.
Due to the injury to Reece James, Malo Gusto has been starting at right-back. Meanwhile, centre-back Levi Colwill has been lately shifted to the left side of defense.
Future in England for Davies?
Thus, Alphonso Davis might be the solution to their positional problems. Football London reports that the Blues are scouting the 23-year-old with an eye toward a potential transfer.
Bayern Munich‘s contract with the Canadian player is up in 2025, and he has not yet committed to a new agreement. So, if the Canadian keeps dragging his feet on a contract, the Bavarians may have little choice except to trade for him this summer.
The Canadian full-back, widely regarded as one of the world’s quickest players, joined Bayern in 2019. In his subsequent 177 games for the German powerhouse, he has scored seven goals and added 28 assists.
Under Thomas Tuchel, he has been a mainstay in every tournament so far. But Raphael Guerreiro, last summer’s addition, will now challenge Davies for a starting position. The Portuguese has just made a full recovery from an injury that sidelined him for most of the season so far.
Guerreiro and the Bayern left-back complement each other well. However, the former has had to step in as the team’s centre-midfielder due to recent injuries.
Swap deal to beat competition?
The report goes on to add that there has been no progress in extending Davies’ contract with the Allianz Arena outfit. Manchester City and Real Madrid are among the elite clubs who have taken notice of the issue.
Chelsea, however, seem to be getting set to join the battle in an effort to pull off a surprising coup. According to the article, Bayern is reportedly considering a move that would send Ben Chilwell in the other way.
Even as far back as November, the English side considered a transfer for the Canada international. According to Simon Phillips, Chelsea are ‘sensing an opportunity’ with Davies. However, their main rival are Los Blancos.