Do Chelsea and Man City need Mahmoud Dahoud?

Nicholas Hughes

• Updated: 19 May 2021 14:09 BST
• 4 min read

Chelsea and Man City are both said to be interested in Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud despite their already stacked midfields.

The Daily Mail have suggested that the two clubs in blue are leading a group of Premier League clubs in the race to sign the 25-year-old, mentioning Everton and Tottenham as other potential suitors.

These rumours appear strange given the current midfield stocks for both Chelsea and City, and the fact that Dahoud isn’t necessarily the most covetable of players out there.

The German has only played 12 times in the Bundesliga, and has only started more than seven games once in his previous three full seasons at Dortmund.

Man City and Chelsea midfield options

City’s midfield at the moment is arguably the best in the world with Rodri proving a revelation in the No.6 role, Ilkay Gundogan their top scorer and Kevin de Bruyne just about the best in the business.

Outside of them they still have Fernandinho, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva can also play through the middle – an embarrassment of riches.

And Thomas Tuchel’s options at Chelsea aren’t too bad either. N’Golo Kante was only less than 24 hours ago lauded for a man of the match performance in their Champions League win over Atletico Madrid.

Alongside the Frenchman in the middle is Mason Mount who has been the Blues’ best player this season, while Jorginho has flourished under Tuchel with Mateo Kovacic a big option, too.

So from that point of view, a move for either of those sides would appear unlikely and rather bizarre at best.

Even the other clubs mentioned – Everton recently spent on Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure in their midfield and Tottenham brought in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the summer.

Dahoud’s numbers this season are nothing outstanding, but his 88.5 touches, 73 passes and 8.7 recoveries per 90 minutes rank him in the top portion of Bundesliga players.

Clearly, the mere fact that a team has good options in a position doesn’t bar them from signing more players in those areas, but different positions will be priorities for Chelsea and City.

But given that Dahoud is no better necessarily than their current crop of midfielders and that other positions will take priority, a deal in the summer shouldn’t be expected.