Chelsea have made a solid if unspectacular start to life under new manager Antonio Conte.
The Blues have won five of their opening eight league games, although they might be disappointed not to have won a few more given that they won the first three matches of the season.
Nevertheless, frustrating defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal have been forgotten thanks to comfortable victories over Hull City and Leicester City – the latter of which a particularly impressive performance from Conte’s side.
Chelsea are fifth in the Premier League, just three points behind leaders Manchester City, but with no European commitments this season, the Blues can focus solely on regaining the league title.
They signed David Luiz back from Paris Saint-Germain in the latter stages of the summer window in a bid to bolster their defensive options, and they made a decent profit on the defender having sold him for £50 million a few years ago, and buying him for £30 million this time around.
Luiz’s move back to England could pave the way for more players to leave the French champions, so here are THREE players who may look to follow Luiz to Chelsea…
Marquinhos
Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.
Although the Blues have been better defensively in recent games, Conte may still feel that he needs reinforcements at the back in January.
The 22-year-old is slowly turning into an excellent centre-back, which is no doubt helped by compatriot Thiago Silva’s influence alongside him in the PSG back four.
He has excellent positional awareness and can also play at full-back or just in front of the back four, and should be someone Conte is looking at in a bid to strengthen his defence.
Angel di Maria
Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.
Angel di Maria’s one-year stay at Manchester United hardly illustrated his capabilities in the Premier League, but that doesn’t mean that he should be completely disregarded just yet.
We saw glimpses of what di Maria can do when he was at United, scoring three times in his first five games, but could flourish at Chelsea if given the game-time and opportunity to shine.
Edinson Cavani
Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.
Edinson Cavani’s goal-scoring record in the past five years has been nothing short of staggering.
From when he was at Napoli to now at PSG, the Uruguayan has netted at least 25 goals in each of his last six seasons – three at Napoli, and three in France.
He’s well on his way to doing the same again this season, having netted 12 times in 10 games for Emery’s side, and his incredible scoring prowess is likely to attract interest all over Europe.