5 alternatives to Danilo for Chelsea

At the beginning of the transfer window, it seemed as though Danilo was destined to go to Juventus to replace Dani Alves. However, Chelsea soon joined the race and Juventus had no chance since they weren’t to pay as much as the London club.

At this point, one could actually be forgiven for envisaging the Brazilian in the blue shirt of Chelsea. However, Manchester City leapfrogged the Blues and are now firm favourites to sign the former Porto player.

The funny thing is that it was only a few days when Pep Guardiola splashed £50 million for right-back, Kyle Walker. Now, he is about to spend £25 million more for a player that plays in the same position. However, this leaves Chelsea in an uncomfortable position as they need a right-back if they are to keep playing Azpilicueta at centre-back.

And here are five players that Chelsea could look at as Danilo alternatives.

#5 Felix Passlack

Felix Passlack

The teenager is one of the brightest talents to come out of Borussia Dortmund’s academy that has produced the likes of Marco Reus, Nuri Sahin and Mario Gotze.

The young right-back, who is only 19-years-old, is touted to be the natural heir Lukas Piszczek at the Westfalenstadion while some claim that he is going to be even better than the Polish full-back.

Whether or not he reaches that level can only be revealed by time. Right now, what can be said is that he is among the best talents in the world. As a right-back, he is quick, an intelligent passer and can put in accurate crosses for his team-mate.

However, he still has to improve the defensive aspect of his game – and Conte can help him do that. The Italian moulded the talented but error-prone Leonardo Bonucci into arguably the best centre-back in the world, so this looks like an Italian job.

#4 Aleix Vidal

Aleix Vidal can play as the right-winger too

He might have endured a difficult time at Barcelona, but Vidal can revive his career in the right environment. Although the critics make it sound like he was nothing but a burden for the Catalan outfit, Vidal did show glimpses of brilliance for the Blaugranas – until injuries screwed it up for him.

At Chelsea, under the tutelage of Conte, we might see the version of Vidal that made Sevilla fans fall in love with him. After all, even David Luiz has been moulded into an elite centre-back under the guidance of the former Italy manager.

During his Sevilla days, Vidal attacked with carefulness while defended with tenacity. Indeed, when he picked up his form at the beginning of this year, he showed his mindful all-round play in the red and blue of Barcelona. However, he fell prey to the fangs on injury and now Barcelona have signed Nelson Semedo – leaving Vidal’s future open-ended.

#3 Alvaro Odriozola

How to win the Premier League? Buy lots of Spanish players. It is a tried and tested method that always seems to work for Chelsea. Last year, Chelsea had three Spaniards in their team that worked as pillars to their Premiership glory and it was the same in 2015 as well.

Indeed, Chelsea’s only Champions League triumph came when Juan Mata and the damned Fernando Torres combined up front to provide some spark in an otherwise dull team. With Alvaro Morata taking the place of Diego Costa in the squad, Chelsea could yet their Spanish quota to six players by signing the Real Sociedad youngster.

It has been reported that the talented right-back is being weighed as an option to replace the outgoing Danilo at Real Madrid. However, Conte can intervene and promise something that Real Madrid can’t: first-team football.

With Dani Carvajal sitting on the right-back throne, Ordiozola will be nothing more than a backup. However, it will be different at Chelsea. Victor Moses did a fabulous job last season, but with Ordiozola on board, the workload will most likely be equally shared by the two. Ordiozola is better defensively than the Ivorian – and in time should be easily the first choice in the spot ahead of the Nigerian.

#2 Lukas Piszczek

Now, I might have already mentioned Felix Passlack earlier, but given than Dortmund see him as a star for the future and the natural heir to the Pole’s throne, Chelsea might find it a lot harder signing him than the guy he is being touted to replace.

Piszczek is a proven right-back. The fact that he is still at Dortmund proves his loyalty to their cause, but he is someone who deserves to go out with more trophies than he already has. At Chelsea, he might just get the chance to do so.

Stable head while going forward and defensively able, the full-back was once chased by some of Europe’s biggest clubs, but he opted to stay put with the Ruhr outfit. With him, Conte basically gets an experienced campaigner who knows the tricks of the trade and represents the kind of player Conte loves: industrious.

But there is a problem, he is 32 and doesn’t really represent a long-term option for the position.

#1 Thomas Meunier

Meunier can be a world class good full-back if he overcomes injury problems

Okay, this is a bit of a gamble given his injury record, but Thomas Meunier would be a great signing for the Blues – perhaps the best possible option if you exclude his proneness to injuries. PSG are blessed to have two talented right-backs in their squad in the form of Serge Aurier and the Belgian.

However, Aurier’s attitude seems to be a bit of problem to deal with, hence Meunier seems like a better option overall. He is the stereotype attacking right-back that perfectly fits the necessities of a full-back in Conte’s 3-4-3.

While he might not the best of defenders, he would be an upgrade to Victor Moses in many departments. For one, Meunier is an intelligent passer and puts in accurate crosses every now and then. With a 6’2” Alvaro Morata waiting inside the box, this could be a great sight to see.

I have already said this many times and I will reiterate it another time, if anyone can improve a player’s defensive qualities, it is Conte – and the same can happen with Meunier.