Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has been criticised for ignoring to sign a defensive midfielder this summer while spending big on attacking talents.
This is according to Goal’s Seye Omidiora, who believes Chelsea should make a move for Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey.
According to Goal, the Ghanaian international is an upgrade on Chelsea’s Jorginho and N’Golo Kante in the defensive midfield position.
The report claims Partey won 64 percent of his duels last season in the league compared to Jorginho’s 45 percent and Kante’s 41 percent.
Partey also won 71 percent of aerial duels compared to Kante’s 37 percent and Jorginho’s 26 percent.
The report also hails Partey as not just a midfield destroyer but also an expert in recycling possession and progressing the ball upfield. Partey played the highest volume of passes into the final third for Atletico Madrid last season and he ranked third for progressive passes, behind Kieran Trippier and Saul Niguez.
Partey is also press-resistant and isn’t one to be caught in possession repeatedly. He was dispossessed 15 times in La Liga in 19/20, fairly superior to Jorginho (22), Kante (32) and Mateo Kovacic (27).
Partey had a dribble success rate of 83.9 percent. This was better than Kovacic’s 76.6 percent, as well as Jorginho and Kante, whose percentage of dribbles completed read 70.8 and 60.9 respectively.