The Blues‘ fell really short of having a fantastic season in the Premier League followed by European Championships and of course the Domestic Cups as well this year. It is reflective of a dearth in the personnel required to pull off a better job at the office every single day. Naturally, the club is looking at a major overhaul of squad members in the summer to take a stronger guard for their next campaign spearheaded by Italian manager Antonio Conte.
He is likely to usher in some talent that you would least expect donning the blue colours at Stamford Bridge but be rest assured as Mr. Conte seems to be knowing some fiery, powerful and resourceful names who could get Chelsea the players he wants, to say the least.
Apart from the usual suspects-now-targets for Chelsea, Conte has expressed strong views to acquire midfielders like Paul Pogba, Axel Witsel, Arturo Vidal, Radja Nainggolan and Miralem Pjanic as his primal big targets.
Given the fact that a lot of the current players desire to walk out of London, here’s a fitting look at who could be the best replacement for Ivanovic in case he turns out to be one of the players making an exit from the club.
Best Potential Right-Back Replacements:
John Stones (Everton)
Oh, yes! He is the centre-back who performed a Cruyff turn inside his own penalty area in Everton’s September win over Chelsea whilst Ivanovic is the no-nonsense right back. As the norm goes, the strength required to be a good defender is something that comes naturally to the Serb and Stones is not too far with that. He has the underdog character with leadership qualities that he once scored a dramatic late winner at Southampton. But Stones and Ivanovic play differently. They are separated by a generation, a 21-year-old who looks to be the long-term option and a 32-year-old who is a short-term solution at Chelsea. John Stones who is not a right back, to begin with, holds value for his club in the defense line which counts up for a lot of attacks getting diffused eventually. Stones was Jose Mourinho’s preferred candidate whereas Ivanovic is Guus Hiddink’s favoured choice. The decision to get this target on board however, depends on Antonio Conte or the mysterious Michael Emenalo the Blues’ seemingly unaccountable technical director in the future.
Dani Alves (Barcelona)
We all know that Ivanovic has really worked hard to become a good right-back after having started his early career at Stamford Bridge as a part of their central defense line. If one talks about the best right backs in the game at the moment, Dani Alves would be common to most of the lists as he has been an achiever during his time at Camp Nou. He still serves the Catalan club as his renewed contract with Barcelona ends only in 2017. However, his presence in London could really propel the Blues’ hopes of Championship glory yet again refueling their much-required quality at the back.
Not only would he bring world-class defending to the table but also give stability to a club that needs it the most having had no luck at the trophies this year. This Brazil international is the master of modern day attacking – defending. He is the ideal passive-aggressive force that possesses the skill and work rate to stop goal-scoring giants like Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thomas Muller, etc who are so difficult to match pace with on the ball. He has been a stalwart during all of Barca’s recent success as he’d set to be one of the very few super-successful 30+ year olds South American footballers at the top level of the game. He was first bought for a £27m transfer fee (as well as add-ons) the Catalans paid Sevilla in 2008 which was seriously not a foolish deal.
Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid)
Dani Carvajal is a unique right back on the list because of the fact that it is very dubious for clubs to acquire him due to the fact that he’s already an established defender at Real Madrid. Valued at £14.75m and paid £41k p/w as wages, his stats are truly incredible. Also since he’s just 24, it is certainly a world-class career so far. He’d slot into any team in the world right now. Starting for a club like Chelsea would only grow him further and do a world of good to the Blues first team as well.
Conte’s tactics and strategies could involve Carvajal at the helm of the defense doing all the up and down business for the Blues on the field establishing a sense of order in the Chelsea lineup. He looks a determined and a confident fellow right from the whistle at the start of the game and remains as a silent service provider for Los Blancos at Madrid. He is definitely a top catch for the defending English champions who need to find the best right back the game has to offer right now.
Serge Aurier (PSG)
An emerging star from Paris, Aurier promises serious ability in his style of play and performance as he looks pretty with a label of £11.8 million assigned as his transfer fee. The Ivory Coast international, who is set to be available is a great prospect to vouch for when it comes to buying a young, dynamic and ruthless right back in English football.
Chelsea must believe in the players they plan to invest in going by the quality they’ve offered to previous clubs in terms of team performance and individual contribution. Indeed, Aurier is a balanced footballer due to his dynamism and stamina that allow him to surge forward and join attacks, while he’s also defensively adept and brilliant at covering his centre-backs. For football critics and close-observers he is definitely in the calling of the next best in the world provided he returns favours to clubs without having much attitude hassles.
Hector Bellerin (Arsenal)
With the international break halting league football, there have been more than a few big summer transfer moves that surface the football markets. One of those is slated to be a massive interest for the 22-year old Hector Bellerin by Manchester United. However, Chelsea’s Conte plans to prioritize the Blues’ midfield first, he must keep an eye out for his back slots as well. An aging Ivanovic must be replaced by a young and talented right back. Chelsea must join the race to be among the clubs eyeing a shock transfer for Arsenal starlet Hector Bellerin as he is already wanted by rivals Manchester United and his former club Barcelona badly.
The Blues boss in-waiting has reportedly expressed and guaranteed a lot of potential signings that would lift Abramovich at the sight of seeing some new faces with new things to achieve at Stamford Bridge. We hope they make a move for Bellerin who promises to be an outstanding right back, not just for the usual transfer rumour mills but for real.
Not a full-proof prediction for Chelsea’s right back prospects, just another fan tabloid desperately awaiting changes at the club as soon as possible!