Chelsea star who had more touches than Palmer to be sold this summer
On Sunday, the last day of the Premier League season, Chelsea defeated Bournemouth 2-1 to guarantee their spot in Europe for the 2024–2025 campaign.
The hosts took the lead in the first half thanks to a spectacular goal from Moises Caicedo from the halfway line, and Raheem Sterling doubled the score soon after.
Benoit Badiashile’s own goal in the 49th minute gave the opposition some hope, but Mauricio Pochettino’s team was able to win the game very easily in the end.
Now that the summer transfer market is approaching, the Blues may focus on selling versatile defender Trevoh Chalobah aggressively.
Transfer interest in Trevoh Chalobah
Back in March, journalist Ben Jacobs claimed that the former Ipswich Town loanee is a player the club “will sell” and added that they have tried to cash in on him in the past.
Bayern Munich were linked with an interest in the Englishman last summer, with a valuation of £50m reported, but a deal did not materialise from Thomas Tuchel’s side.
In January, TEAMtalk named Premier League teams Fulham, Crystal Palace, and Nottingham Forest as three of the clubs eyeing up the centre-back, but they added that they were put off by the price tag, which had reportedly been lowered to £25m.
Pochettino must now push for the defender to be cashed in on this summer, possibly by going back to the aforementioned interested clubs to strike up a deal, to ensure that they have regular natural right-back options next season.
The 24-year-old dud struggled defensively against Bournemouth and has rarely provided an attacking threat at right-back this term, which is why the club should part ways with him.
Trevoh Chalobah’s performance against Bournemouth in numbers
The Blues academy graduate started the game at right-back, with Reece James suspended, Malo Gusto coming back from injury, and Alfie Gilchrist on the bench, and left a bit to be desired from his performance.
Up against Cherries forward Marcus Tavernier, Chalobah did not enjoy his best evening on the defensive end as he was dominated in physical contests on the deck and in the air, losing 71% (2/7) of his duels.
As you can see in the table above, Bournemouth’s players found it far too easy to get the better of the English full-back, who was dribbled past as many times as he completed tackles.
Chalobah also ended the match without a single key pass and has ended the season with zero assists and zero ‘big chances’ created in 13 Premier League appearances.
The defender had zero key passes and zero crosses attempted despite taking more touches of the ball (65) than creative midfielder Cole Palmer (54) did at Stamford Bridge, which illustrates how little of an impact he had in possession despite having plenty of chances to make something happen.
He does not offer an attacking threat, like Gusto did with his six assists in 19 league starts, and should now be sold, as per Jacobs’ claim in March, to make way for natural full-backs to be utilised down the right flank for Chelsea moving forward.