Aleksandr Golovin has been a shining light in Russia’s triumphant World Cup campaign thus far, with the hosts facing Spain in the last sixteen of the competition this weekend.

In his two matches for Russia, Golovin has scored one and created two assists. He’s managed to glide between the lines and link up play between midfield and attack.

The twenty-two year old’s quite versatile as he can be deployed as an attacking midfielder and on the left wing, although he’s seems more suited to the central midfield role.

Chelsea might be looking for more midfielders this summer.

Both Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley have struggled to get game time since move to Stamford Bridge. Cesc Fabregas isn’t getting any younger and Frenchman Tiemoue Bakayoko had a frustrating debut season with the London giants.

Obviously The Blues still need to workout who is going to manage them next term, Maurizio Sarri seems to be on the verge of being announced but as of yet we still don’t know.

Yet it looks as though a move for Aleksandr is already being negotiated. Chelsea seem to have jumped ahead of queue for Golovin’s signature leaving Juventus in their wake.

The move makes sense in a lot of ways.

One being that the CSKA Moscow man is a very talented young player, hence why big clubs like Juve, Arsenal and Manchester United have been linked with him this summer.

Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho praised the Russian midfielder after their opening win of the tournament:

The player is comfortable with the ball at his feet, he’s a neat passer and likes a dribble too. Plus he’s not scared to take a shot on. Golovin is also not scared to make a challenge, during the World Cup he’s average three tackles per game and during his last Champions League campaign he was averaging 2.2 tackles per tie.

So he has all the makings of being a fine all round midfielder.

As I’ve previously stated, Chelsea may believe that they need to freshen thing up in the middle of the park. It seems like they’ve got too much deadwood in that area of their team.

Then there’s the Russian factor.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has always been keen on having talent from his homeland within his club’s squad. Alexey Smertin and Yuri Zhirkov have represented The Blues since the Abramovich era started in 2003.

You got to imagine that the billionaire would love nothing better than signing his nation’s golden boy of their home World Cup.

The fear that comes with signing players from the old Iron Curtain is that they can struggle to adapt or that they’re not as good as their promise suggests.

It will be hoped that Golovin has the desired talent and hunger to succeed in the English Premier League. A big positive could be his young age, it should make it easier for him to get used to a new league if he does indeed leave CSKA this summer.

No one should be surprised if he ends up at Stamford Bridge for the upcoming season, Chelsea will hope that Aleksandr Golovin can be a spark that gets them back in the top four and challenging for trophies again.

Posted on June 29th, 2018 by scott
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