Why Chelsea can't afford to lose Chalobah this summer
Cameron Smith
- Updated: 20 Aug 2022 22:43 BST
- 4 min read
Trevoh Chalobah has been linked with a Chelsea exit this summer thanks to the West London club's pursuit of Leicester City's Wesley Fofana.
The 21-year-old Frenchman was left out of Leicester's squad for their Premier League defeat to Southampton amid speculation surrounding his future, with Chelsea circling.
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Thomas Tuchel's side are keen to add Fofana to their ranks, but it may take a world-record fee for a defender to land the talented defender. Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella have already arrived this summer as the Blues look to recover from the defensive losses of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers.
However, another centre-back is still wanted, with Fofana now Chelsea's number one target.
But, the club's pursuit of the former St Etienne star could lead to them losing one of their talented academy graduates.
Last summer saw Chelsea lose Marc Guehi and Fikayo Tomori, both of whom were Cobham graduates like Chalobah, and this theme could continue this summer. According to The Evening Standard's Nizaar Kinsella, Chalobah is considering his future at Stamford Bridge due to the club's hunt for Fofana, and will make a decision on his future is the Frenchman does end up joining the club.
Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku, who is spending the 2022-23 season back at Inter Milan, has personally recommended Chalobah to the San Siro club, who could yet lose star defender Milan Skriniar before the window ends.
Furthermore, Tottenham and Roma have reportedly joined the race for Chalobah, with the Englishman attracting plenty of transfer attention amid his unknown future at Chelsea.
Despite the rumours linking the former Lorient loanee with a Chelsea exit, the Blues wouldn't be wise to let him leave.
Why Chelsea should keep Chalobah this season
With Rudiger and Christensen both having departed, there is still a hole in Chelsea's backline, and will the addition of Fofana will help, it doesn't mean Chalobah should be deemed surplus to requirements.
While Koulibaly and Fofana directly replace Rudiger and Christensen, there is still minutes available for Chalobah.
Tuchel has spoken of Cucurella's versatility to play as a left-centre-back, but the Spaniard hasn't featured in that position enough to warrant complete confidence in his ability to play that position regularly.
It's therefore reasonable to suggest that the Spaniard could play a similar number of minutes at centre-back as Malang Sarr did in all competitions last season (1,500). The Frenchman has joined Monaco on loan for the campaign, meaning he now can't be relied upon to fill in here and there, so Cucurella could take on those minutes at centre-back to accompany his game-time further forward.
With Cesar Azpilicueta ageing and slowing down massively in regards to performance level, the Spaniard should really be decreasing his minutes in the starting XI, not increasing them, which could happen if Chalobah leaves. The former Marseille man played over 3,500 minutes in all competitions in 2021-22 and he shouldn't be reaching over 3,000 if at all possible this year.
In addition, Chalobah played 2,200 minutes last season and those minutes won't just vanish into thin air - someone else will need to step up if he leaves.
If Fofana is the last defensive signing Chelsea make then they can't afford to let Chalobah leave as there'll be at least 2,000 minutes in all competitions to be filled by the remaining defenders in the squad.
Ethan Ampadu could stay, but he doesn't seem to be favoured by Tuchel, and the trio of Koulibaly, Thiago Silva and Azpilicueta shouldn't be over-exerted due to their age.
Reece James may well feature more at right-centre-back than last year, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek at wing-back, but that's not ideal and limits one of Chelsea's most creative outlets.
The solution? Keep Chalobah in the squad because the Blues are competing on four fronts and he'll be needed throughout the campaign.
