Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Adama Traore would be a strange signing for Chelsea

Middlesbrough winger Adam Traore is attracting the interest of league leaders Chelsea

According to Sky Sports, Chelsea have enquired about the availability of mercurial Middlesbrough winger Adama Traore. The Blues have reportedly been seeking to strengthen their squad, but this seems like a strange move to me.

The 20-year-old has made 14 appearances for the north east side this season in the top-flight. He has reportedly now attracted the interest of Blues boss Antonio Conte.

Talented but so unpredictable

Adama Traore is another player to have fallen off the Barcelona production line. He is one of the players that have the technical skills but are maybe missing the other attributes to become good enough to play in the Barcelona first team.

Traore at the moment remains me of Everton’s Gerard Deulofeu, but a younger version when it comes to his development. The youngster has talent and pace. At the moment, though, he is just so unpredictable.

In a sense, that is good that he is unpredictable. It is an attribute that can be put to good use in bemusing defenders. If used wrongly, though, it can also bemuse his teammates, boss and fans.

Whenever I have seen Traore play he has also lacked an end product. He has the ability and pace to dribble past the whole of the opposition team but then fails to deliver a shot on goal or find a teammate with a cross.

Playing as a winger Traore has failed to deliver a goal or an assist this season. Last season he played 193 minutes for Aston Villa in the top-flight and produced two assists.

Could develop with age

Maybe Antonio Conte believes that he can help the youngster develop into a top-class player in the near future. The Italian may see the raw attributes of a potential world beater.

Traore’s searing pace and dribbling ability are two attributes that cannot be taught. Those are natural talents and in the future, if he can work on his game they could help him fulfil his potential.

However, maybe players who are mavericks and have similar attributes fail to develop into great players, simply because they cannot develop the other facets of their game to reach the same level as other top class players.

Traore has been showing signs that first team football is aiding his development of late. Only eight of his 14 Premier League appearances this season have been starts. However, his decision-making in the final third of the pitch seems to have improved in recent games.

Staying at Boro will help Traore

It seems unlikely that Traore will leave Middlesbrough in January. The youngster would not be able to play for a new club this season, as he has already played for Aston Villa and Boro this season. If Chelsea did sign Traore he would most likely stay at Boro for the rest of the campaign.

If he does stay for then he could be a crucial player for Boro. However, only if he can start producing an end product, as Boro are struggling for creativity and goals. Aitor Karanka’s team are solid at the back, but struggle to score goals and are odds of 9/2 to be relegated this season.

Getting game time at Boro in the Premier League would no doubt help the winger to develop into a better player for the future. A switch to Chelsea at this stage of his career would seem like a strange one, although it would obviously be a difficult move to turn down.

The youngster would struggle to get into the Blues starting eleven at the moment. He is too inconsistent to play for the leaders on a regular basis. For me, he would probably be another Chelsea player who was loaned out from pillar to post and never get a chance at Stamford Bridge.

No doubt Adama Traore has potential. However, a move to Chelsea in the summer would probably come too soon for the undoubtedly talented winger.

Would a move to Chelsea be good for Adama Traore?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Nugent


David is a freelance football writer with nearly a decade of experience writing about the beautiful game. The experienced writer has written for over a dozen websites and also an international soccer magazine offline.
Arguably his best work has come as an editorial writer for Soccernews, sharing his good, bad and ugly opinions on the world’s favourite sport. During David’s writing career he has written editorials, betting previews, match previews, banter, news and opinion pieces.

SHARE OR COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

WE RECOMMEND

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This field is required *

Join the conversation!

or Register

Live Scores

advertisement

Betting Guide Advertisement

advertisement

Become a Writer
More More
Top