César Azpilicueta

[Superblue 6,372]

He went to Lille as well........

Is that a done deal? I know it was rumoured.

[Jase 43,479]

A very much an upgrade on Bosingwa!

http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/d1blnqgdt0-d_mgvgj03-g/Show/WhoScored-Scout-Cazorla-Azpilicueta-Michu

With a move for Inter right-back Maicon now seemingly off the table it seems that Roberto Di Matteo has switched his attention to Marseille's Cesar Azpilicueta. If a deal can be agreed it may well happen before or after the Olympics, with the 22-year old set to represent Spain at the Games in London, and meetings with Chelsea officials appear to be in the offing during his time in the capital.

Azpilicueta is a right-back by trade, which has been a problem area for Chelsea, with neither Ferreira or Bosingwa stamping down the role in recent years and centre-back Ivanovic often called upon. Defensively the Spaniard is strong across the board, averaging 2.4 tackles, 2.7 interceptions and 2.9 clearances per game last season, which are all up on Bosingwa's figures. He also trumped the Portuguese for aerial duels won per game, with 0.9, though he was dribbled past slightly more often (0.7 per game to 0.5 per game).

A pass success rate of 74.3% will need to improve if he were to fit in at Stamford Bridge but in an attacking sense Azpilicueta averaged 0.9 key passes per game last season, which is again up on both Bosingwa (0.8) and Cole (0.5). Although he doesn't complete many dribbles (0.3 per game), the Marseille man is a full-back who looks to get balls into the box, with a decent 21.3% from 4.2 cross attempts per match. In comparison, Bosingwa 16.2% cross accuracy falls short, and with the Blues defender now out of contract, Azpilicueta could be a more than capable replacement.

[J.F. 1,484]

Sign him and Cavani, and that's it, we will have really strong squad in every position.

[YouNameIt 1,511]

Sign him and Cavani, and that's it, we will have really strong squad in every position.

RB and DM. We got Torres, Sturridge and Lukaku as CF.

[Ramires7 32]

i thought we would have gone for debuchy instead after bosingwa goes to lille.... oh well, azpi isnt that bad too i guess

KTBFFH

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

Sign him and Cavani, and that's it, we will have really strong squad in every position.

we dont need cavani unless torres is shipped which wont happen anytime soon, soooooo just sign him and we could be set, another lw/rw could be on cards however.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

Sign him and Cavani, and that's it, we will have really strong squad in every position.

we dont need cavani unless torres is shipped which wont happen anytime soon, soooooo just sign him and we could be set, another lw/rw could in on cards however

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

Sign him, wrap up Oscar, and grab that green monster, then I can sleep tight.

[royg 96]

I'm sure Mata and Oriol will be whispering to him "CFC is the champions of Europe, enough said"

[capriccioso 2,545]

A very much an upgrade on Bosingwa!

http://www.whoscored...pilicueta-Michu

What I don't like there is that Bosingwa allowed fewer players to dribble past him than Azpilicueta.

[Rahul Haque 57]

oscar and azpi

we got torres, lukaku and danny boy in ST

perfect squad

[Kisho 33]

If we get oscar and azp, I think we will be winning silverware next season but look at us in the future still world class! :blue scalf:

----------courtois------------

azp----cahill----luiz------bertrand

-------romeu-----oscar-----------

marin-----hazard------mata

-----------lukaku--------------

[Superblue 6,372]

What I don't like there is that Bosingwa allowed fewer players to dribble past him than Azpilicueta.

Bosingwa as a one on one defender when facing the attacker was never the worst. It was his positioning and concentration levels that let him down - players didn't need to dribble past him, instead just run past him without the ball!

[Magic Lamps 11,668]

According to that Player comparison, Azpi is a slight upgrade to Bosingwa, but 7 years younger. Would probably, if successfull, solve our RB problem for years to come.

as for our squad, the RB position, think we can all agree upon needs s.o. like him to bcovered in number. Iva can still play the big games there, with azpi registering 30+ appearences (incl. sub).

Our Squad does not even need Oscar at all, due to the abundance of playmakers. Much more important is a right winger, who actually IS a right winger such as Hulk, Walcott or Moses and not only CAN play there like Marin, Kakuta or Hazard.

[Muzchap 8,966]

Bosingwa as a one on one defender when facing the attacker was never the worst. It was his positioning and concentration levels that let him down - players didn't need to dribble past him, instead just run past him without the ball!

100% Agree - and his final ball was awful, absolutely awful - on the odd occassion he whipped a decent ball into the box, there was nobody there - as they were so used to it not coming in, nobody gambled and went in there...

For me - every time he had the ball, he looked scared and uncomfortable - very much the same as SWP - I often thought - 'headless chicken'...

However, he provided a good few years of loyal service, had some great games and as a former CFC player - I'll always respect him - and hope he has a nice end to his career outside of CFC.

[Ibra11 11]

Good player, better signing than debuchy and maicon

[OneMoSalah 8,783]

Isn't Azpi not the captain of the Spanish Olympics team? Future Chelsea captain if we sign him?

[J.F. 1,484]

Isn't Azpi not the captain of the Spanish Olympics team? Future Chelsea captain if we sign him?

This is future Chelsea captain.