Why Chelsea must sign Blaise Matuidi in January

Blaise Matuidi

According to the Mirror, Chelsea will battle with Manchester City over the signing of Blaise Matuidi after he admitted that he is yet to agree a new deal at Paris Saint-Germain.

The Frenchman has been going about his business both quietly and efficiently this season and his hard work at the base of PSG’s midfield often goes unnoticed due to the exploits of their expensively assembled attack. In fact, Matuidi has been so effective this season that he leads the French champions’ Squawka Performance Score ratings with a tally of 429 points. This is no mean feat when you take Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s early season goalscoring exploits into account.

Matuidi undoubtedly excels in a country that is not spoilt for choice in the holding midfielder department. He is the perfect combination of physical prowess and mental superiority. The French gladiator can instinctively read the game but is also capable of breaking up play at will and making box-to-box runs which only the healthiest of lungs could manage. His Heat Map in the 2-2 draw away at Saint-Etienne shows that despite being deployed as a holding midfielder, Matuidi made those bursting runs from deep on a regular basis.

Matuidi also possesses proven reliability whilst in possession of the ball. He has a remarkable 94% passing accuracy in the Champions League and a 90% completion rate in the league, his ability to recycle the ball with such accuracy to the more creative players in PSG’s side has been a highlight of his impressive start to the season.

The Frenchman has the legs to get back into position after making a burst forwards and when he does return to base, has tremendous bite in the tackle. He has won 31 out of 37 tackles this year at a very high 84% success rate. This natural willingness and ability to win the ball back is something which Jose Mourinho’s side have been missing this year.

As well as being feisty in the tackle and supportive of attacks, Matuidi has also been keeping his tally of interceptions ticking along nicely, seizing the ball from the opposition 25 times in his 13 league appearances this season.

However, that is not where the midfield dynamos abilities end; he has an eye for a key pass when given the opportunity. It may not be a vital attribute for a defensive midfielder but it is always good to have as many strings on your bow as possible. Matuidi has created 11 chances this season and chipped in with two goals for the Ligue 1 leaders.

His all-round ability would be an asset to any team in Europe but a natural holding midfielder is just what Chelsea are after and that is what Matuidi is. They will be hoping that his contract talks continue to stall in Paris so they have a chance of swooping in to snatch him from the French champions.