Most of the talk about Chelsea’s summer plans have been centred around finding someone to vastly improve their attacking game, but they still need to find a dominant midfielder who can shield the back four.
N’Golo Kante is at his best when he’s allowed to go and press the ball and make interceptions, while Kovacic is a nice all-round midfielder but he’s not excellent in the defensive phase.
It does mean that it’s a position that needs to be improved in the summer, and a report from ESPN has indicated that Monaco’s midfield star Aurelien Tchouameni has a “huge admirer” in Chelsea.
READ MORE: Thomas Tuchel is ready to write off €40m Chelsea signing and he’ll be sold for a loss this summer
He’s been praised for bossing the midfield in games this season from his defensive midfield role so he sounds like an ideal target, but the same could be said of Tiemoue Bakayoko when he moved to Stamford Bridge from Monaco a few years ago.
Tchouameni is still only 21 so he’s got plenty of time to grow, while he’s excelling in a formation that uses a back three so that could also appeal to Thomas Tuchel after he’s favoured that formation since coming to England.
He’s likely to be expensive but Monaco do tend to sell their star players if the price is right, so he’s an interesting name to look out for as we approach the summer.