Sometimes in life, things don’t work out the way they’re meant to. When Bakayoko arrived at Stamford Bridge last season, big things were expected. So, when you consider the fact that he’s completed a medical at the San Siro ahead of a move to AC Milan, something has gone wrong. I’m not here to slander Tiemoue, nor am I here to slag him off, in fact, I’m here to do the complete opposite. Well, that’s my intention anyway, we’ll see how that pans out. Let’s compare him to Chelsea’s current midfielders, see what he can offer. Beforehand, we’ll have a player profile.
Player Profile
As you can see, he still has a rather lengthy contract with Chelsea, so it’ll be interesting to see how much he will cost AC Milan, should they opt to make the move permanent next season. Don’t get me wrong, Bakayoko hasn’t hit anywhere near the levels that he did with Monaco the season before last, however, is it the right move by Sarri to ship him out? It’s comparison time.
Comparison
A picture paints a thousand words. The star denotes being the best. Bakayoko has no stars. He doesn’t even come close, which is perhaps the most worrying thing. Enough beating around the bush, it’s time to decipher what we see before our very eyes. To be fair to Bakayoko, his pass completion of 86% is highly commendable, it just so happens that he’s up against Jorginho and Kante. We’ll give him a pass on that one (no pun intended). Tackles won has got my brain working overtime; he’s got more than Jorginho and twice as many as Loftus-Cheek. Again, not bad. Maybe the kid can play after all!
Famous last words, as per. Chances created sees him drop to the bottom of the pile for the first and only time. The thing is, he’s almost 0.5 behind third-placed Kante, which is the problem. With the greatest respect in the world to Kante, he’s not an architect, not by a long shot. Yet, he still managed 1.15 per ninety minutes last season. A conundrum is Bakayoko. We finish with duels won. Bakayoko comes third in this which tells its own story, once again. So, from the four stats, his ranking is as follows, third, second, fourth, third.
Conclusion
Shakira’s hips don’t lie and nor do my stats. Tiemoue Bakayoko turns twenty-four on Friday and he’s stuck at somewhat of a crossroads in his career. You’d like to think that Sarri has seen enough in him to review his time in Italy meticulously with a view at bringing him back into the Chelsea set up next season. On the bright side, it will give Chelsea fans a new player to sing about in the San Siro. I am sick of that Dennis Wise song.
Until the next time.
Many thanks to Transfermarkt and Squawka for the above images.
