According to a recent report by the Express, Chelsea are set to battle with Inter Milan and Juventus in pursuit of Empoli midfielder Hamed Traore. The same report also states that the Italian outfit value the Ivory Coast prospect in the region of £15m after his rapid emergence in the Serie A.
Traore, who has the nickname of ‘The Machine’, was a sporadic feature for Empoli last season when he made a few cameo appearances from the bench as his team managed to secure promotion from the Serie B. Despite starting off a bit slow this season, the 18-year-old has managed to establish himself in the Empoli first-team. He has already put in some eye-catching displays in midfield for the Italian outfit during this campaign.
The Ivory Coast youngster came through the youth ranks at Empoli and is now finally a part of Giuseppe Iachini’s starting XI. A move to Chelsea could hamper his long-term growth as he has no chance of playing regular football under Maurizio Sarri with so much competition for places in the Chelsea midfield.
The Pensioners have the likes of Willian, Eden Hazard, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley vying for a spot to play as an attacking midfielder at Stamford Bridge this season. The West London outfit simply doesn’t have the room in their squad to nurture a prospect like Traore.
However, the English giants have developed a habit of buying promising talents and sending them out on loan to continue with their development. So that trend could continue under Sarri as the club could potentially bring Traore in and loan him out to a new club.
The Empoli wonderkid has incredible potential and could be nurtured into one of the stars of the future if he can continue playing at the highest level. Hence, the Pensioners should stop pursuing him and start looking for more immediate solutions in January.
Sarri needs to make some smart acquisitions who could come in and help his side qualify for the top 4 at the end of this campaign and Traore is not yet ready to make such a significant difference at Chelsea.
