Chelsea as a whole this season have resembled a spluttering old car struggling to get out of second gear.
The garage has attempted to give it a facelift and a new lick of paint but the inner parts continue to trouble its owner.
Though, however glum the campaign looked there is a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of several young players tipped for the top.
British record signing Enzo Fernandez has widely been recognised as the new Cesc Fabregas in this Chelsea team, while there is a hope that Mykhailo Mudryk finally comes good out wide.
That said, the Blues can be under no illusions that their ageing midfield and lack of cutting-edge up top is a huge problem.
Todd Boehly is making moves to improve the former though, with Jorginho already moved on in January and N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic tipped for summer departures. Incomings are also being plotted behind the scenes.
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Boehly was moving quickly in the market with a £52m deal for Uruguay colossus Manuel Ugarte initially looking close to completion. Such a move would have calmd the nerves ahead of a window in which they could lose one of their prized possessions; Mason Mount.
However, a move now looks to be in danger with PSG reportedly offering a better package for the player.
Another move on the table could be that of Moises Caicedo, with Chelsea reportedly the favourites to secure a switch that could cost in the region of £90m.
Who do Ugarte and Caicedo play like?
We have already mentioned Fabregas and in the aforementioned targets, incoming boss Mauricio Pochettino could unearth Stamford Bridge's new Kante and Nemanja Matic.
The Blues have struggled to find such a fluid midfield since the days of that trio but the signs are positive that the Londoners could be reborn with some like-minded faces in the middle of the park.
Such a comparison may well be lofty but they are warranted despite the tender ages of 22-year-old Ugarte and 21-year-old Caicedo.
The former has already been compared to Chelsea's current French enforcer by writer Zach Lowy who once said: "Similarly to a younger Kante, there are games where it seems he’s doing the defensive work of two players. He’s relentless."
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That is shown in the numbers too with the Sporting CP monster winning more tackles (121) than anyone in Portugal's top flight and more tackles (29) than anyone in this season's Champions League.
Winning back the ball is a trait well-known to Kante who by March in the 2020/21 campaign, had made more tackles and interceptions combined than any player in the Premier League.
Caicedo too boasts the ability to win back the ball but his style of play is certainly more similar to the aggressive Matic. In fact, the Ecuadorian is the seventh most similar player to the Serbian veteran in Europe's top five leagues, as per FBref.
The former Chelsea man is now enjoying his football at Roma and has registered some similar statistics to the Brighton youngster.
Although the pairing are comfortable on the ball, they tend to leave the progression of the play to their peers, shown in the fact Caicedo made 43.2 carries per 90 minutes this season to Matic's 44.1.
They also made a very similar number of tackles throughout the 2022/23 campaign with the ex-Blue making 2.32 to the Chelsea target's 2.87 per 90.
Not just content in the defensive phase, they contribute with similar regularity in the final third with the Ecuador international amassing 2.52 shot-creating actions to his peer's 2.41 every 90.
The parallels are clearly there and should Pochettino be able to bring both of these top talents to London this summer, he would be armed with two defensive machines capable of replicating the better days of before at Stamford Bridge.
