Chelsea fought hard for a 3-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Monday night to move up to fourth in the division.
The Blues are fighting for a place in the Champions League for the 2025/26 season, and with the win over Wolves they took another step towards achieving that goal.
Away from the goalscorers, centre-back Trevoh Chalobah caught the eye with a strong performance on his return to the club after a loan spell with Crystal Palace for the first half of the season.
The academy graduate won six of his eight duels and made three tackles on the night, but Chelsea are now reportedly looking at a player in his position who could be even better for Enzo Maresca.
Chelsea confident of signing a new central defender
According to GIVEMESPORTthe Premier League giants are confident of getting a deal over the line for Crystal Palace centre-back Marco Guehi.
The report claims the Blues are ‘adamant’ they will eventually win the race to sign the England international, even if they have to wait until the summer to do so as Palace are unwilling to cash in on him mid-season.
It states that The Eagles value the centre-back at around £70m and Chelsea believe Guehi is interested in returning to Stamford Bridge for another spell at the club.
GIVEMESPORT adds that the player’s interest in a move could give the Blues an edge in the race for his signature, which may be why they are so confident a deal will be done.
If Chelsea end up winning the race for Guehi’s signature, then it could be a fantastic deal for Maresco, as he could come in as an immediate upgrade to Chalobah.
Why Guehi could be an upgrade on Chalobah
The two centre-backs have, of course, spent the first half of this season playing in the same defensive unit for Palace, and it was the England international who caught the eye with his impressive performances.
It is worth noting that Guehi has already been limited 22 times by England at international level, while Chalobah is yet to make his senior bow, suggesting Gareth Southgate has viewed the former as the better option of the two in recent years.
Their performances in the Premier League for Palace this season support that opinion, as the Eagles captain has been far more dominant from a defensive perspective.
|
24/25 Premier League |
Marc Guehi |
Trevoh Chalobah |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
21 |
13 |
|
Turnovers + interceptions per game |
2.3 |
3.2 |
|
Dribbled per game |
0.4x |
0.8x |
|
Duel success rate on the ground |
66% |
58% |
|
Duel success rate in the air |
63% |
57% |
As you can see in the table above, Chalobah made more defensive tackles per game, but that opened him up to being dribbled twice as often, while losing more of his duels on the ground and in the air.
These statistics suggest that Guehi, once Southgate called him “exceptional”.it’s harder to beat opposition players, in dribbles and duels, and that could make him even more solid at the back for Chelsea than his former team-mate.
Connected
So Maresca should be overjoyed that the Blues are confident of landing the Palace star job over the line, as he could come in and immediately improve the team with his dominant defensive play.
