5 replacements for Cesc Fabregas at Chelsea

For a player of his undoubted talent, Cesc Fabregas has had a curious career. Despite all the laurels he has won at the various clubs he has been at (Arsenal, Barcelona & Chelsea) as well as for the Spanish national team, there is still a sense that he has not shown his world-class talent consistently.

This frustrating aspect of his play where he just drifts out of play and does not help to control or dictate the play has made him largely a spectator under manager Antonio Conte and irrespective of who becomes manager at Stamford Bridge next season, it seems a new deep-lying playmaker will be needed to replace the Spaniard.

Here are 5 quality replacements that can add a different dimension to the Blues next season:

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#5 Mikel Merino (Newcastle United)

Thr young Spaniard can be for Chelsea what Xabi Alonso was for Real Madrid

Will undoubtedly be the cheapest on the list but might also be one to offer long-term value given his age.

Mikel has been one of the better value buys in the Premier League this season as his abilities have meant that formerly heralded midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has had to play second fiddle.

A rangy box-to-box midfielder, he is composed in possession and has a keen eye for a pass. The product of Osasuna’s academy is technically gifted and is very similar and abilities and playing style to Spanish legend Xabi Alonso.

While he is not the fastest player, he does have a decent turn of pace and has excellent delivery from dead ball situations.

His aerial ability and marking skills (things Fabregas has never been renowned for) means that Chelsea can if need be, play a two-man central midfield pair as the defensive midfielder (nominally N’golo Kante) would not be left alone to deal with opposition attacks, something which the club has had to face when Fabregas has been paired with just Kante.

Given Newcastle’s precarious position in the league & the likelihood of relegation coupled with the anger over the management of Mike Ashley, a £30m price tag should be enough to add the talented Merino to Chelsea’s burgeoning Spanish contingent.

#4 Jorginho (SSC Napoli)

The maestro, Napoli will not let go of him without a fight

The pass master and regista supreme, such has been Jorginho’s influence in the brilliant football being played by Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli side that it is not inconceivable to imagine the team falls apart if he leaves.

He is the glue that holds the team together, the king of the pre-assist and tempo dictator for a Napoli side that plays with such verve and enthusiasm.

Like Merino, Jorginho is no stranger to the defensive side of things as he plays in a two-man midfield for the Partenopei and fulfills his defensive duties with great distinction playing alongside Brazilian midfielder Allan.

Adept at opening up defenses with his passing; long range and short as well, his addition to a Chelsea team that usually starts with two wing backs mean players like Victor Moses, Emerson Palmieri, Marcos Alonso & Davide Zappacosta will be able to profit off his laser-sharp long passes.

For a team like Chelsea that has been overly reliant on the creativity of Eden Hazard, this would be a different attacking outlet and one that replaces the ineffectiveness of Fabregas this season.

It is hard to place a price tag on him, given his importance to the Neapolitan cause but for the 26-year-old; Chelsea may have to go as high as £60m to get him to Stamford Bridge.

#3 Thiago Alcantara (FC Bayern Munich)

Thiago would be a more than adequate replacement for Fabregas

Such has been the belief among football aficionados about Thiago’s abilities that despite the plethora of medals he has won in his career, there is still a general sense that he can and should get better to a Xavi-esque level.

A typical La Masia-trained player, he is a brilliant passer of the ball and fantastic dribbler as well as being a highly creative and technically gifted playmaker, with excellent dribbling skills and ball control.

This ability frees him up to operate effectively as a regista as he has space and vision to pick his passes from deep and the skill to take the ball up the pitch and create danger further forward.

This dribbling ability is not something that Fabregas has displayed much of in his time at Stamford Bridge and is something that has been sorely missed especially in the big, tight games.

An added advantage that Thiago brings to the team is his compact physique and small stature which gives him a low center of gravity.

With the great balance and agility this offers, he is able to retain possession under pressure and dribble past opponents into space in order to create chances for his teammates, something only Hazard has been able to do for the team.

He will be pricey though, a bid of £70m may be a good start for negotiations between Chelsea and Bayern.

#2 Marco Verratti (PSG)

Veratti will be expensive to get but will be more than worth it if Chelsea can get him

Going after Verratti can be a very dangerous game as FC Barcelona found out at the beginning of the season but if Chelsea can manage to get the diminutive Italian to swap the French capital for the English one, they would be getting a player who ticks all the boxes for what a modern regista should be.

He is widely regarded as one of the best midfield talents of this generation and would be difficult to prise away from Paris. There's a deliberate and well thought out pattern about his style of play that makes him different from most of the deep-lying midfielders of his generation.

Aggression is a big part of modern football; the ability to get in opponents’ faces and take the game to them. This is something that Fabregas has been very poor at as he has a tendency to disappear in the toughest of games where tackles are flying and the pace is unrelenting

Veratti excels at this as he combines the bull-dog tackling and marking talent of a Gennaro Gattuso with the immaculate ball playing and passing skills of an Andrea Pirlo.

Being the intelligent player that he is, controls the tempo from the middle of the park with his flawless distribution and would take Chelsea’s play up a notch.

He will be expensive to get as PSG will not ask for less than £100m for their prize asset.

#1 Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund)

The brilliant German will be a superb buy if Chelsea can get him to sign for them

The brilliant young German is top of this list for a reason; he has everything required to become as good as the world’s best registas: Pep Guardiola, Xavi Hernandez, Andrea Pirlo & the likes.

With an intelligence that belies his tender years, the German international is adept at both the offensive and defensive sides of the game.

Acting as the deepest member of a midfield triangle, Weigl is of great importance in the early parts of attacking build ups at his club; Borussia Dortmund.

More often than not, it is he who is tasked with receiving the ball from the center-backs and starting attacks. He also acts as a decoy, creating space for the likes of Omer Toprak to advance with the ball.

In situations where the intention is to quickly counter, his quick thinking and long-range passes usually free up the wingers or overlapping full-backs to create havoc by getting the ball to them quickly and bypassing the opposition midfield.

Also capable, if need be, of acting as the most defensive player in a midfield two/trio, his marking and tackling abilities are adequate and would be especially useful in the helter-skelter world of the Premier League.

It is difficult to determine just how much the Blues will need to part with to get the young genius but if they can get him in, his impact on the team would be huge as Kante would get the ideal midfield partner while the frontline will be assured of getting early and incisive passes deep from midfield.