This summer, Thomas Tuchel might have to invest in his midfield department at Chelsea. Throughout the current campaign, he's relied upon three players to share the workload in N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho.
Two of those players are now over the age of 30, and Kante in particular has encountered a number of injury issues in recent years which have prevented him from performing every single week.
Conor Gallagher and Billy Gilmour are due to return from their respective loan moves in the summer, and AS Monaco's Aurelien Tchouameni has been linked with a transfer to Stamford Bridge, but Jude Bellingham could be the man to fill the void.
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The English talent has been tipped for a move to Chelsea in the past. Somehow, the English midfielder is still just 18 years-old, yet he's accustomed to performing on the biggest of stages.
Bellingham has evolved into quite the presence at Borussia Dortmund. He's known for his mentality and his drive despite his youthful age, and his versatility is also extremely valuable.
Gareth Southgate offered a further insight into his game recently. In his latest comments, the England boss captured exactly why Chelsea should hold an interest in his services.
"He's developing exceptionally well for his age," said Southgate. "He’s being asked to play a number of positions this year. Dortmund have played 3-4-3 where he’s one of the double pivots, 4-3-3 where he plays as one of the no.8s and a diamond where he’s played on the outside.
“He has different tactical challenges to deal with. We’ve talked to him about his game this week. There are things - understandably for any player - for him to work on and some specifics we are looking for from him. But he’s very coachable, wants to learn and is highly motivated.”
3-4-3 is the system that Tuchel has favoured since taking charge of the Blues, but he's also made adjustments depending on the scenario at hand.
Chelsea used 4-2-2-2 for a number of weeks in the winter to cope with the loss of their wing-backs. Earlier in the season, the German coach changed from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2 at half-time in a specific match against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Blues are a tactically flexible outfit under Tuchel, and Bellingham clearly had the profile to fit with such an approach based on his development in the Bundesliga.
With a contract which is due to expire in 2025, he could be hard to acquire this summer - especially considering Erling Haaland also looks set to leave BVB - but he looks capable of opening up a number of tactical avenues for Tuchel.
