Reports have emerged that Chelsea are tracking Romanian midfielder Nicolae Stanciu and are interested in bringing him to the Stamford Bridge. Antonio Conte has already given some indication that he wants to have a squad that will have enough depth in their ranks so that he can chop and change and keep his players fresh as he wants his team to mount a serious challenge in all the competitions they would be involved next season. The coach would want to employ a strategy where he would be getting the best out of his players and as Chelsea has already spent some big amounts on Batshuayi and Kante, utility players, available on relatively cheap prices would have appealed to the manager.
Stanciu is valued at £6m by his current club Steaua Bucharest, a price which would be easily met by Chelsea but this transfer would not be exciting the fans. Stanciu can, however, turn out to be a very shrewd signing by Conte. The Romanian is very versatile to start with. He can play in both the wings as well as in the midfield in behind the striker. Since joining Steaua Bucharest in 2013, the midfielder has continued to improve and develop into a very handy player and has won a total of 6 major trophies in his three years so far at the club. The 23-year-old has never played outside his homeland but has shown that he can take added level of pressure and hold his own against quality oppositions in the recently concluded Euro 2016.
Stanciu was one of the best players of his country in the Euro 16 and this year he has been in some very good form as well in front of the goal. After scoring 14 goals and providing 11 assists for Bucharest last season, the midfielder scored 4 times in his 7 appearances for his national team so far and also scored two goals against Sparta Prague on Wednesday night when Steaua Bucharest faced them in their second leg of Champions League qualification tie.
Billed as one of the new stars of Romanian football, Stanciu has already drawn comparisons with his idols, and Romanian legends like Hagi and Mutu. If Chelsea decide to buy him then his technique would allow him to adapt to the Premier League and Antonio Conte would be having a player he can call upon anytime to fill in at different positions according to the need.
A player who would be relishing the opportunity to spend his time in the Premier League with the big boys and won’t be complaining too much about his time on the bench as he knows that he will have to bide his time and learn a lot more. For the price quoted, the player with the attributes he possesses, Stanciu would thus be a very good buy for Conte and Chelsea.
