Chelsea Favourites to Sign Winger From Leeds: Does This Call for a System Change?

How are Chelsea expected to line up with their transfer activity

Given that highly reliable journalists are confident of the Blues being favourites for both Raphinha and Raheem Sterling, there is good reason to believe that a change of formation to a 4-3-3 is on the cards for Thomas Tuchel given the talent he has at his disposal.

Raheem Sterling has excelled as a goalscoring winger on the left wing, showing footballing intelligence to consistently get himself into good goalscoring positions. Kai Havertz has incredible technical ability and while his finishing can blow hot and cold, his quality and link-up ability make him excellent foil for the smooth functioning of the Chelsea front 3.

Enter Raphinha, the ideal man for the right-wing spot. While the London club had a long-held interest in Ousmane Dembele and while the french winger also has terrific dribbling ability, his injury record and reported wage demands proved a stumbling block.

Much like any other on-the-ball skill, I believe “availability” is another equally important but understated quality for football players and this is where Raphinha shines as an option over Dembele. The former played 65 league games out of a possible 76 in the last two Premier League seasons.

Fast, agile, elite in the dribble with equal ability to create and get on the end of chances, Raphinha complements Havertz’s silky movement and potentially Raheem Sterling’s goalscoring instincts in a highly-effective way.

Some massive winger signings of the past have shown a difficult transition and acclimatization to the Premier League, like Jadon Sancho. Having already spent two seasons here, Raphinha is ready to make the step up to Stamford Bridge.