Better than Garnacho: Chelsea set to launch £45m bid for "world-class" star
There is never a moment to catch your breath with Chelsea.
One second, the Blues are lifting the Conference League trophy, and the next, they’re making it to the next round of the Club World Cup.
It’s not just on the pitch where the West Londoners seem to work at breakneck speed either, as it’s been a busy summer of transfer business so far, with the likes of Liam Delap, Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr already through the door, and links to Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho refusing to go away.
Fortunately, there are other reports suggesting the club are preparing an offer for someone who’d be a far better signing than the Argentine.
Chelsea moving to sign Garnacho upgrade
The first murmurings of a potential transfer to Chelsea for Garnacho appeared just ahead of the winter transfer window this season, but as we know today, those links never amounted to much more than rumour.
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Things are a little different this summer, though, as with it now known that the young winger has been told to leave United, the links to Chelsea in recent days feel like they carry a little more weight, especially as some have claimed that contact has been made.
However, it would be fair to say that this is not a move that many supporters want to see happen.
So, fans should be particularly excited about the intensifying links to a far better alternative: Jamie Gittens.
Yes, according to a recent report from talkSPORT, Chelsea have maintained their intense interest in the Borussia Dortmund star this summer, despite seeing a number of offers for him already rejected.
In further good news, the story claims that the West Londoners are in advanced talks and are now preparing a third bid for the player worth around £45m and hope it will be enough to convince the German side to sell.
It’s a lot of money to spend on a youngster, but Gittens looks like he could be something special, and he’d undoubtedly be a better signing than Garnacho.
Why Gittens would be a far better signing than Garnacho
There are a few key reasons why Gittens would be a far better signing for Chelsea to make than Garnacho this summer, and the first stems from their respective output this season.
Appearances
49
58
Minutes
2803′
3568′
Goals
12
11
Assists
5
10
Goal Involvements per Match
0.34
0.36
Minutes per Goal Involvements
164.88
169.90′
For his efforts, the United ace was able to score 11 goals and provide ten assists in 58 appearances, totalling 3568, which comes out to a reasonable enough average of a goal involvement every 2.76 games, or every 169.90 minutes.
However, the Dortmund star has a better minutes-to-goal involvement ratio of 164.88, as in his 49 games for the German giants this year, totalling 2803 minutes, he scored 12 goals and provided five assists.
The second reason for signing the Englishman over the Madrid-born star is the fact that his slight advantage regarding their respective output becomes far more significant when we take a look under the hood at their underlying numbers.
While the eight-capped Argentine does do better in a few areas, like progressive passes and carries, he is massively outperformed by the former Manchester City prospect in so many other, arguably more important metrics.
Non-Penalty G+As
0.56
0.33
Progressive Passes
2.13
2.22
Shots
2.58
3.61
Goals per Shot
0.16
0.06
Shots on Target
1.06
1.22
Goals Per Shot on Target
0.39
0.16
Expected Assists
0.20
0.12
Passes into the Penalty Area
1.20
1.05
Crosses into the Penalty Area
0.27
0.17
Shot-Creating Actions
3.57
3.63
Goal-Creating Actions
0.45
0.37
Tackles
1.44
1.05
Tackles Won
0.79
0.65
Blocks
0.89
0.77
Interceptions
0.48
0.45
Clearances
0.38
0.37
Successful Take-Ons
3.57
1.31
Carries into the Final Third
2.96
2.93
Carries into the Penalty Area
3.06
3.04
For example, not only does the Reading-born gem score more goals from his shots, but he also creates more opportunities by completing more passes and crosses into the penalty area or being the far more accomplished dribbler.
Moreover, he is an incredibly hard worker, as evidenced by the fact he makes more tackles, blocks, interceptions and clearances than his potential competitor per 90.
Ultimately, while Garnacho is a talented player, he’s simply not as good as Gittens, with the latter outperforming him when it comes to raw output and everything that goes on under the hood as well, which is why Chelsea should be doing all they can to sign the Dortmund star this summer.
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