Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is keen on signing a left-back in the summer and the Blues have been linked with Porto left-back Alex Telles and Leicester City left-back Ben Chilwell.
According to Portuguese media outlet A Bola, Chelsea have started negotiations with FC Porto over a summer move for Alex Telles. Is this the right move for the Blues?
Stats show Chelsea have made the right choice making a move for Telles instead of Chilwell.
Telles is a better goal scorer and creator than Chilwell. Since the start of the 2018-19 season, Telles has been involved in 38 goals (16 goals, 22 assists) in 93 appearances for Porto across all competitions while Chilwell has 2 goals and 9 assists in 64 appearances for Leicester City. Lampard wants his full-backs to push high and contribute to the attacking phase and Telles is better at doing that. Telles averages 2.3 crosses per game at an accuracy of 27% while Chilwell averages 0.7 crosses at 19% accuracy.
Chilwell averages more dribbles per game (0.7) compared to Telles who averages 0.5 dribbles per game. However, Telles has a better dribble success rate at 52% compared to Chilwell with a dribble success rate of 36%. Telles is also a difficult player to beat compared to Chilwell. Telles gets dribbled past only 0.7 times per game while Chilwell gets dribbled past at least 1 time per game.
Telles is good at scoring free-kicks and penalties. 14 of his last 15 goals have come from dead-ball situations (5 free-kicks, 9 penalties) while Chilwell hasn’t scored any during that period.
Chilwell loses possession of the ball more often than Telles. Chilwell has lost possession 21.7 times per game this season while Telles has lost possession only 17 times per game this season. Telles makes more ball interceptions compared to Chilwell. Telles averages 1.5 interceptions per game compared to Chilwell who averages 1.1 interceptions per game.
Telles’ average of 2 key passes per game and tally of 6 big chances created is better than Chilwell’s average of 1.2 key passes and 5 big chances created.
Telles is a slightly better tackler than Chilwell. Telles has won 27 out of his attempted 43 tackles at a success rate of 62.79 compared to Chilwell, who has won 36 of his 58 attempted tackles at a success rate of 62.06.