Following increasing speculations over the last few weeks of Chelsea winning the race against Manchester United in their race to sign AS Monaco’s highly-rated midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, reports now claim that the Blues have already made a bid of £32million for the 22-year-old.
The French midfielder has been the talk of the town of late after the French club overturned a 5-3 deficit against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League round of 16, which was followed by the player replacing injured Manchester United’s Paul Pogba in Didier Deschamps France national squad.
Bakayoko has reportedly rejected a contract extension offered by the club as he wants to move to a bigger club. And the lure of Champions League could prove to be irresistible for the player. While United are also in his pursuit, Jose Mourinho’s Champions League qualification still hangs by a thin string, an advantage that Chelsea are not going to let go.
Chelsea’s midfield situation has prompted their manager Antonio Conte to bring in reinforcements in the area and Bakayoko’s rise to fame couldn’t have come any sooner. Chelsea, this season, have been immensely dependent on N’Golo Kante, who has been outstanding so far. But, with fixtures increasing next season, Conte would not want to risk burning out their best player.
One can only imagine how good a partnership Bakayoko will have with Kante in Chelsea’ central midfield. Chelsea have Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas as other options, and although Fabregas has had his moments this season after a pretty slow start, Matic looks too one-dimensional to be used on a regular basis. And Fabregas can be no match with Bakayoko and Kante’s work rate, which makes the team selection quite easy for the boss.
The 184cm midfielder could be a domineering force in Chelsea’s midfield. Given his young age, Bakayoko relies greatly on his strength and height in operating the game and his ability to find the perfect pass up front makes him a devastating player. Chelsea’s setup allows them to attack mostly from the wings where they have the likes of Marcos Alonso, Eden Hazard, Victor Moses, Willian and Pedro.
Conte demands his midfielders to win the ball repeatedly and provide it up front in the attacking third, which seems easy for Bakayoko at the moment. An academy product of French side Stade Rennais FC, Bakayoko broke into the first team in 2013 and Monaco wasted no time in picking him up the following season.
Though he is yet to make his debut for the France senior team, he has been a regular in the under-21 side, where he has played 13 times.
