Roberto Pereyra is a potential Chelsea player, says Watford director

Watford technical director Filippo Giraldi believes midfielder Roberto Pereyra is good enough to play for a quality team like Chelsea.

Roberto Pereyra, 28, joined Watford from Juventus in 2016 and has since gone onto make 78 appearances for the club in all competitions. It took some time for the Argentine to adapt to the demands of the Premier League and now, he’s one of the first names on Javi Gracia’s team sheet.

The midfielder, who was a January transfer target for Torino, has scored six goals and supplied an assist in 29 Premier League games, although he is currently on a 10-match goal drought.

Watford are planning to keep hold of Pereyra, although Filippo Giraldi has admitted his club face a fight to do so in the summer as the Argentine playmaker has the quality to play for a side like Chelsea.

“I do not like to comment on transfer market speculation,” Giraldi told Italy’s Radio Kiss Kiss. (h/t The Evening Standard)

“In football, nothing is impossible, but I see it as a highly unlikely scenario as for us he (Pereyra) is a very important player.

“I think he can go to a great team, and I say it with all due respect to Torino. I see him as a potential Chelsea player.

“He played at Juventus, but he lacked continuity. With us he has excellent statistics and I see him in a great team.

“We will do everything we can to keep him, otherwise he will go to a big team.”

Roberto Pereyra could be a good buy for Chelsea

As per the Sun, Chelsea were also heavily linked with Pereyra in January. The Blues completed just one deal in the winter transfer window which was bringing in Gonzalo Higuain on loan from Juventus until the end of the season.

We definitely need reinforcements at the end of the season, though, as Maurizio Sarri’s squad lack quality to compete for the title. Also with Eden Hazard potentially leaving Stamford Bridge for Real Madrid in the summer, Pereyra could go some way to fill the Belgian’s void in our team.

But we have to first wait and see if our appeal against the two-window transfer ban is successful or not.