Why Chelsea Want Presnel Kimpembe at Stamford Bridge

Why are Chelsea targeting Kimpembe for a move?

As detailed in a previous piece on the kind of center-back that’s suited to the Tuchel style of play, I wrote about how recovery speed, ball progression, and passing ability are important qualities for this role.

Kimpembe’s strongest ability as a defender is undoubtedly his passing ability. The French defender attempted 74 passes and completed a remarkable 95.9% of his passes per 90, over the past year. It’s not just that he’s an accurate and assured passer, he’s also an effective one.

Over the past year, Kimpembe completed 92% of his “long” passes (over 30m in distance), suggesting a tendency to undertake and complete impactful passes. He’s naturally left-footed, which lends good help in build-up play and passing angles on the left side of defense.

In addition to his merit in passing and building up an attack, he also undertook close to 64 carries and progressed the ball a remarkable 190.9 yards towards the opponents’ goal per 90 last year. These are very strong numbers and show what Kimpembe can bring to a football team.

He won a reasonable 71% of his aerial duels last year, a number similar to that of the previous occupant at left center-back, Antonio Rudiger.

Kimpembe has been accused of the occasional lapses in concentration in defense and is a bit error-prone but at the age of 26, he has time to develop these aspects of his game and it would be expected that these would impact the team lesser in a 3 defender system alongside the wealth of experience of Thiago Silva and new signing Kalidou Koulibaly.