Chelsea are still pursuing a couple of transfers on deadline day, with Ajax midfielder Edson Alvarez near the top of the list.
Wednesday night saw Chelsea submit a £43m bid for Ajax's Alvarez. football.london understands that the Mexico international has been tracked by the Blues for some time. The Dutch side are yet to respond to the bid, but Alvarez has failed to show up to training in an effort to force a move.
Chelsea have been busy this summer, with the signing of Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana the seventh incoming of the window. As well as Alvarez, Chelsea are still chasing the signature of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona.
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So, if Chelsea were to sign Alvarez, could the Mexico international help get the Blues' season back on track? We simulated the season to find out.
We 'signed' Edson Alvarez for Chelsea on deadline day
For this simulation to happen, we used the in-game editor for Football Manager 2022 to transfer Alvarez to Chelsea on transfer deadline day. We also updated the Blues squad with all the latest changes to try and get the most accurate results possible.
The defensive midfielder wasn't the first choice under Tuchel in his debut season at the club, but Alvarez impressed when he featured, making 26 appearances in all competitions. Alvarez started 15 and came off the bench in 11 of his games, averaging a rating of 7.12 per game.
The Mexico international scored three goals and assisted two, with one of his goals a last-minute winner against Manchester City in the Premier League. Alvarez also had the best tackle success percentage (91%) out of all the Chelsea midfielders and had an impressive pass completion rate of 91%.
At the end of the season, FM22 released the Best XI from the Chelsea squad, using player statistics, league data and other measures to complete the team. Here's Chelsea's Best XI for the 2022/23 season, according to our simulation.
Full Chelsea Best XI (5-2-2-1): Mendy; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Koulibaly, Cucurella; Kante, Kovacic; Havertz, Mount; Sterling.
Alvarez wasn't able to find a way into Chelsea's best XI, with N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic the chosen pair in midfield. Conor Gallagher and Jorginho also missed out, whilst Thiago Silva was a surprise omission in defence for Trevoh Chalobah.
Chelsea's 2022/23 season overall from the simulation
As Manchester City ran away with the Premier League title in the simulation, Chelsea were the best of the rest, finishing second in the table. The Blues tallied 77 points in the 2022/23 season, winning 23, drawing eight and losing seven.
Tuchel's side were close to City with around 12 games to go, but the Blues dropped in form towards the end of the season and exited the title race. In Chelsea's last five games, just one game was won.
Behind City and Liverpool, Chelsea had the best defence and conceded just 39 goals whilst scoring 71 to end the season with the second-best goal difference. Like in the league, Chelsea came close to silverware, reaching one cup final with no success.
Tuchel's side faced Liverpool in the FA Cup final, but a Mohamed Salah brace handed the Reds a 2-0 win and the trophy.
Chelsea dropped to the Europa League and were eliminated in the round of 16 to AC Milan as they lost on penalties, and Tuchel's side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup in the third round after losing 1-0 to Arsenal in the simulation.
Overall, FM22 predicts that despite not becoming a regular in his first season of the simulation, Alvarez could add some depth and competition to the Chelsea midfield, helping push the Blues to finish second in the league. The defensive midfielder was solid when called upon, and at just 24 years old, Alvarez could prove to be a great long-term investment for the midfield.
Do you think Chelsea should make a move for Edson Alvarez? Let us know in the comments.
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