Chelsea: David Luiz not really Antonio Conte's signing?
David Luiz returned to Chelsea on transfer deadline day from Paris Saint-Germain, but who exactly invited the Brazilian back to Stamford Bridge?
Everybody knows the story about David Luiz returning to Chelsea by now. It was all very dramatic and last minute. Who wanted the Brazilian centre-back to return to Stamford Bridge is now becoming the story.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was in fact the driving force behind the deal, according to The Sun. Antone Conte wanted Alessio Romagnoli from AC Milan or Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli to fill a role at centre-back. That’s not what he got.
David Luiz is quite different from the two centre-backs mentioned. He is not what you would describe as a typical Italian centre-back, either. The type Conte tends to prefer. You know, defensively sound, good fundamentals, good positioning, intelligent…..etc. That’s not Luiz.
Luiz is flamboyant and unpredictable. Entertaining to watch – for a neutral, anyway. But this goes completely against the Italian’s way of doing things. It’s quite hard to imagine a pragmatic coach like Conte sitting down and thinking David Luiz would be a great buy.
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Whereas Abramovich, on the other hand, already knows Luiz all too well. Once the players Conte wanted were seemingly out of reach, it would presumably be an easy option for the Chelsea owner to go ahead and pursue Luiz. Given his prior relationship with the defender, at least. Maybe that is the way it happened. Maybe it wasn’t.
But the reports of the manager at Chelsea having less power than the cleaner is worn out at this point. It’s happened too often. From Luis Felipe Scolari to Andre Villas Boas to Avram Grant to Rafa Benitez… the list goes on.
Even Mourinho. Nobody really believed that the Portuguese coach wanted Andriy Shevchenko at the club back in 2006. He was just there. Again, possibly compliments of Mr. Abramovich. What about Radamel Falcao? Another disaster. It’s a common theme. At least Luiz plays a position Conte has a need for.
The 29-year-old could play in one of the outside positions of a back three in a 3-5-2 – Conte’s preferred formation. So there’s some potential upside to the deal for sure. The actual signing of David Luiz could work out, in terms of his ability on the field. You just can’t be sure about it.
The wider issue is just who signed him. If Conte wanted the Brazilian, then great. See what system he plays him in and judge later. But if Abramovich has been up to his old tricks again then it’s bad news for Conte.
A manager being undermined will quickly lose respect among the squad, and especially at Chelsea. Just ask any of the numerous managers sacked by Abramovich before Conte arrived.
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