Three Players Chelsea Should Have Signed In January – Featuring A Midfield Powerhouse From Serie A

The January transfer window slammed shut on Tuesday and it was quite an uneventful one for the big clubs. While there were plenty of incomings for teams struggling in the relegation zone, not much happened with the teams in the top-half of the table.

Premier League leaders Chelsea too saw the window out without any incomings. However, there were plenty of high-profile exits from the Stamford Bridge with Oscar and John Obi Mikel moving to the lucrative Chinese Super League while long-serving defender Branislav Ivanovic moved back to Russia on the deadline day. Covers in the full-back department were a prime target for Conte, while he also wished to add another striker to his roster, but no move materialized.

Chelsea are well ahead of the chasing pack in the title race and as it stands now, they are the clear frontrunners to bring the trophy home. However, reinforcements in key areas in the January window would have strengthened them further and just made their grip on the title even stronger.

Here are three players, who Chelsea should have brought in, in the last month:

Sead Kolasinac

Chelsea almost managed to snatch the Bosnian left-back late in the transfer window, after it seemed all set that Kolasinac would be joining up with Juventus in the summer.

While Marcos Alonso has been scintillating as the left wing-back for Chelsea, a lack of suitable deputy for the Spaniard could be a cause for worry for Conte. While he did recall Nathan Ake from loan at Bournemouth, the Dutchman looks far better used as a centre-back and a proven and an accomplished left-back like Kolasinac could have been the way to go.

Kolasinac has been in good form for Schalke this term and would have been a nice fit in the Chelsea setup with his attacking instincts. And with his contract expiring in 6 months, he would have come in at a cheap price as well. But Chelsea failed to act quickly enough and will now have to wait till the summer and could end up losing him to Juve.

Franck Kessie

The Ivorian midfielder has been the talk of the town in recent times, earning rave reviews for his performances in the midfield for Italian side Atalanta. Kessie attracted a lot of interest from various quarters, with Chelsea also heavily linked with a move for the midfielder.

A powerhouse in the middle of the park, Kessie is an all-action box to box midfielder, who contributes immensely in attack, as has been the case for Atalanta this season, having already scored 7 times, and can be equally effective performing his defensive duties, just the right fit for Conte’s system at Chelsea.

Having sold Oscar in the window, there was a scope for bringing in a more suitable replacement and 20-year old Kessie would have been the ideal man despite his tender age. A move in the summer could still be in the pipeline, but signing him in January would have provided a further boost to their cruising campaign.

Antonio Candreva

This came as a bolt out of the blue on deadline day when reports emerged that Chelsea had made a £26 million bid for Inter Milan wide man Candreva which the Italians were quick to reject.

While Victor Moses has been a revelation as the right wing-back for Chelsea, there is again the question of lack of depth in options past the Nigerian. Branislav Ivanovic was the obvious choice, but he too departed in January, leaving young Ola Aina as the only proper backup. Candreva has played as a wing-back for quite a long time in his career and Conte has worked with him during his days at the helm of the Italian national team.

Experienced, well-suited and trusted by the manager, Candreva could have been a fine addition to the Chelsea squad, but once again, the Blues seemed to have left it a little late in the day and may have to go back again in the summer.