Lots of players have come and gone from Chelsea since their last title win in 2017 but perhaps one stands out most for the lack of replacement.
Other than Diego Costa's goal exploits, with Tammy Abraham coming close to hitting the Spaniards levels, and Nemanja Matic's defensive shield work in front of the backline, Chelsea have also missed creativity from midfield.
This was all too evident throughout Thomas Tuchel's time in charge with none of his primary double-six options being a goal threat outside of Jorginho's penalties. Mateo Kovacic, for all of his dribbling skills and brilliance as a natural No.8 or as part of a double-six, has never scored more than two goals in a season for Chelsea.
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His assists are low as well for a player with the undoubted technical skill he has. N'Golo Kante is a lot of things but a creative mind with an eye for a killer pass is not one of them, meanwhile Mason Mount, maybe the most attacking of the midfielders, has been used as a forward for 18 months.
It is part of a problem that has seen Chelsea's threat dwindle as performances are built on solidity and positional play rather than any creativity. The last true player to flourish at Chelsea in the central area like this was Cesc Fabregas and he left in January of 2019 - though never truly recovered from the poor 2018 season.
The Spaniard left Chelsea to have time at Monaco and is now playing for Italian second division side Como after becoming a part-owner of the club. The former Arsenal and Barcelona player has revealed that he is looking to become a manager at some point though. Just like his former Spain and Barcelona teammate Xavi has, Fabregas was one of the great architects of his generation in midfield and joins a line of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Zinedine Zidane who have all made the jump into management.
Each of those former world-class stars has added their own style to play but all have followed similar exciting and attacking principles, something that Fabregas himself would surely follow after being a player with such deft ability and defined vision for play on the pitch.
All of this could excite Chelsea fans into thinking that maybe Fabregas could become a future saviour of the midfield issue at the club, not as a player, but as a manager capable of drawing out better results further down the line. This has been given a halt though with the two time Premier League winner looking to Barcelona first.
"I can’t deny that it would be a dream to coach Barca one day," he said in an interview with RAC1. "Time will tell. Right now all I want to do is prepare myself well to become a coach. I have notebooks with notes about the things I liked and didn’t like about the different coaches I’ve had. To keep it in mind for the future."
For now at Chelsea it is down to Graham Potter to eek out results and a long-term plan, including a midfield revamp, at Stamford Bridge, but the prospect of having a player like Fabregas one day in charge would surely inspire midfield creativity of the sort that has been missing since his departure.
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