Chelsea have time and again been linked with left-backs, and I believe it’s one area where we are really light. We don’t have many options at left-back after Marcos Alonso. Alonso has performed very well this season but to cover him up, Chelsea will have to shift their focus to Baba Rahman and Kenedy.
Manager Antonio Conte might mostly listen to offers for the duo in January and might look to offload them. Getting rid of Rahman and Kenedy could provide the space for Chelsea to sign someone else.
In the summer, the Blues were chasing highly-rated Juventus left-back Alex Sandro. Juve refused to sell and Chelsea were adamant to give up. In the end, the Italian giants won the battle as they succeeded in keeping hold of Sandro.
Despite Sandro still being on the radar, Conte has opted a Plan B and seems to have identified Alex Telles of Porto to bolster his left-back options. Telles signed for the Portuguese club in 2016, moving from Galatasaray, and has impressed in the Primeira Liga.
According to A Bola (h/t SportWitness), Chelsea sent a scout to watch Porto’s 0-0 draw with Benfica on Friday night – a game which the Brazilian started.
With Alonso being the only natural left-footed full-back, Conte wants to spend on signing a back-up in the January transfer window and Telles could be an enticing option. The Brazilian is super quick, agile and can maraud up and down the left flank for the entire 90 minutes without getting tired.
Brazilian footballers often tend to attack by nature and since moving to Europe, the left-back has seen his defensive side of the game improve by leaps and bounds. He is one of the brightest talents in the Primeira Liga.
At the beginning of July, Telles’ agent Fernando Otto spoke about the Blues’ potential interest in the player. He was quoted by SportWitness as saying:
“For now, we have nothing. Not from Chelsea. Neither me nor the player received any contact, from any English club. But it can happen because the market opens tomorrow. When he went to Galatasaray, we had an offer from Chelsea for Alex. But at the time, we had already confirmed a pre-contract with Galatasaray, and we could not go back.
“But there was an information exchange, last year too. And I believe that maybe one day he will play for Chelsea. I don’t know if it’s going to be this season or the next. But I feel like one day he can play for Chelsea.
Asked how much Telles would cost, he said: “I don’t know. Porto paid six, seven million Euros. But he’s been valued this year, he was the best fullback in the Portuguese league, and in assists numbers, he’s the best left-back in Europe,” the agent added.
The 24-year-old has a contract with Porto until 2021 with a buyout clause of €40m, which means Chelsea will have to cough up a good amount of money to land him. Being of Brazilian flare, he provided 10 assists for Porto last season, that demonstrates his attacking traits.
I feel Conte should go for Telles in January before other clubs start noticing him. We, of course, have Sandro as our primary target but I don’t feel Juventus will listen to any offers. Perhaps spending less money on a growing talent who is still more than competent would make more sense for Conte and Chelsea.