I want to start this off by saying that I totally appreciate that not everyone will share my views here, and that’s totally fine and I fully respect that. Football is a game of opinions, and we don’t all think the same.
But for me personally, I think it really is time this summer and even in January, for Chelsea to start revamping the midfield.
Today I’ve seen rumours of Jorginho rejecting a new contract offer and asking for a higher salary, and similar stories with N’Golo Kante too in the last couple of weeks. Personally, I’d not even be speaking about new terms to extend either player, I’d be letting them both go as free agents come the summer.
It’s not that I don’t rate or love them, I fully respect and appreciate what both players do and bring. But I am just so passionate and adamant that now is the right time for Chelsea to revamp our midfield if we really want to push on and catch those at the very top.
Jorginho seeking pay rise as Chelsea table new contract offer
— Standard Sport (@standardsport) October 18, 2022
We need to bring in some more all-rounders in midfield. We need players who are athletic, quick, robust, physical, and technical. Not just midfielders who offer one or two of those things. We need a true defensive midfielder in there as well.
Jorginho, I appreciate what he does, but we are often left exposed in defence and on counter attacks due to his lack of defensive awareness, pace, and athleticism. And Kante now for me is just far too injury prone.
He’s played two Premier League games so far this season and turns 32 in March, that’s only going to get worse. Come the end of December, we will be lucky if he has doubled that to four Premier League appearances. Love the man, but it’s time to move on. Out with the old and in with the new.
What I would be doing is bringing in one replacement in January so they can settle in and pick up the reigns, and then another in the summer. I wouldn’t want players without any experience, because you cannot replace such experienced players without taking that in to account. But as I say, we need a balance of all the attributes needed in our midfield, an area that for me is currently our most pressing area that we vastly need to improve if we are to catch the leading clubs in world football.
That’s just my view. You’re fully entitled to yours, and I fully respect and honour that.
