Published: January 22, 2022 2:32 pm
Last Updated: January 22, 2022 2:34 pm
Reports coming out of England claim Chelsea are lining up an offer for Ajax’s Edson Alvarez.
Alvarez would join Ajax in July of 2019 from Mexican side CF America.
The 24-year-old has since featured on 84 occasions for Ajax, scoring six and assisting three in the process.
And now, Football Insider are reporting that Chelsea, Leicester City and Crystal Palace are lining up offers for Alvarez.
Ajax are said to be keen to keep hold of Alvarez, but know they face a battle to fend off the growing interest in him this month.
No potential fee is mentioned in the report.
How would Chelsea use Alvarez?
At present, Alvarez is largely used as a defensive midfielder for Ajax and this is now where he has played the majority of his senior career games.
However, Alvarez would break into the Dutch giant’s side as a centre-back and he is very well versed in this role.
So where would Chelsea play him if they did sign him? Currently, Chelsea stand to lose Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta in the summer when their contracts expire.
Of course, some of these players could sign new deals, but is still pretty obvious that Chelsea need to invest in their defence going forward. Thiago Silva is also 37 and is now probably set to leave the Londoners in 2023 when his new deal expires.
Elsewhere, though, Chelsea are pretty short in central midfield right now due to N’Golo Kante’s persistent injury woes and Saul Niguez’s awful form, which also likely means the Spaniard will not be signed permanently by Chelsea.
Of course, Conor Gallagher and Billy Gilmour are due to return to Chelsea in the summer which would help plug the gap in midfield. But Chelsea are pretty well known for signing big names over using their academy talents, meaning Alvarez could well still be signed and played as a DM.
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Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City | 22 | 41 | 56 |
| 2 | Liverpool FC | 21 | 37 | 45 |
| 3 | Chelsea FC | 23 | 28 | 44 |
| 4 | West Ham United | 22 | 11 | 37 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 19 | 4 | 36 |
| 6 | Arsenal FC | 20 | 8 | 35 |
| 7 | Manchester United | 21 | 5 | 35 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 20 | 2 | 31 |
| 9 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 21 | 0 | 29 |
| 10 | Leicester City | 19 | -3 | 25 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 21 | -1 | 24 |
| 12 | Southampton FC | 21 | -8 | 24 |
| 13 | Aston Villa | 20 | -5 | 23 |
| 14 | Brentford FC | 22 | -11 | 23 |
| 15 | Leeds United | 20 | -15 | 22 |
| 16 | Everton FC | 19 | -10 | 19 |
| 17 | Norwich City | 22 | -32 | 16 |
| 18 | Watford FC | 20 | -17 | 14 |
| 19 | Newcastle United | 20 | -23 | 12 |
| 20 | Burnley FC | 17 | -11 | 11 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 16 |
| Jota, Diogo | Liverpool FC | 10 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City | 9 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 8 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 8 |
| Ronaldo, Cristiano | Manchester United | 8 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 |
| Smith-Rowe, Emile | Arsenal FC | 8 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 8 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 8 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 7 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 7 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 7 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City | 7 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion | 7 |
| Silva, Bernardo | Manchester City | 7 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 6 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City | 6 |
| Saka, Bukayo | Arsenal FC | 6 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City | 6 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salisu, Mohammed | Southampton FC | 0 | 7 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 0 | 6 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 0 | 6 |
| Alonso, Marcos | Chelsea FC | 0 | 6 |
| Tarkowski, James | Burnley FC | 0 | 6 |
| Laporte, Aymeric | Manchester City | 1 | 5 |
| Neves, Ruben | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | 6 |
| Skipp, Oliver | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | 6 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 0 | 4 |
| James, Reece | Chelsea FC | 1 | 4 |
| Silva, Bernardo | Manchester City | 0 | 5 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 1 | 4 |
| Cancelo, Joao | Manchester City | 0 | 5 |
| Robertson, Andy | Liverpool FC | 1 | 4 |
| Toney, Ivan | Brentford FC | 0 | 5 |
| Jimenez, Raul | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | 4 |
| Richarlison | Everton FC | 0 | 5 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa | 0 | 5 |
| Canos, Sergi | Brentford FC | 0 | 5 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander-Arnold, Trent | Liverpool FC | 10 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 8 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 7 |
| Jesus, Gabriel | Manchester City | 7 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 7 |
| Cancelo, Joao | Manchester City | 6 |
| Robertson, Andy | Liverpool FC | 6 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 5 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 5 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 5 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| James, Reece | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| Kovacic, Mateo | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City | 4 |
| Saka, Bukayo | Arsenal FC | 4 |
| Benrahma, Said | West Ham United | 4 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 4 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City | 4 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 4 |
| Redmond, Nathan | Southampton FC | 4 |