Chelsea target “incredible” £58m star who’s more creative than Madueke

The importance of full-backs in Enzo Maresca’s system at Chelsea is key, often having to change their role based on the opposition and tactical game plan.

This has become very apparent at Stamford Bridge where Malo Gusto has seen himself popping up in all kinds of positions, overlapping to provide width, inverting into the pivot, and even finishing himself in the pockets as a number 10.

However, as good as Marc Cucurella has been – notably silencing Bukayo Saka in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal – if Maresca wants to deploy his left full-back in this role, he doesn’t get the same technical quality and creativity as he gets from Gusto on the right side, and that’s why the Blues are currently looking at a creative option for that role.

Chelsea looking at signing Premier League star

According to reports from CaughtOffside, Wolves defender, Rayan Ait-Nouri, is on the radar of Chelsea as a left-back option. Liverpool and Manchester United are also reported to be interested in the 23-year-old, which could see a bidding war for the highly rated defender who is allegedly valued at around £58m.

The Algerian has gone from strength to strength since joining Wolves from Angers back in 2021 for a fee of around £10m. Wolves boss Gary O’Neil has described Ait-Nouri as “incredible“, praising his versatility and work rate.

The flying wing-back has made 13 appearances so far this season, scoring three goals, providing two assists, and totalling 1,079 minutes played.

The 23-year-old could add extra creativity from the left-hand side, as he has shown this season already with his 5 goals and assists, and creative metrics that even rank ahead of Chelsea’s Noni Madueke.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

Ait-Nouri vs Madueke comparison

Madueke has had a brilliant start to the new campaign under Maresca, making 14 appearances in all competitions, and scoring five goals in 975 minutes. However, he is yet to register an assist, becoming much more of a direct goal threat this season, rather than a provider.

On the other hand, Ait-Nouri has been playing in his dynamic left-back role, inverting into midfield at times, finding himself in the number 10 position, providing width almost as a left-winger at times, getting himself two Premier League assists already this season, better than Madueke in this regard.

Ait-Nouri vs Cucurella & Madueke
Stats (per 90 mins)	Ait-Nouri	Cucurella	Madueke
Goals	0.25	0.00	0.33
Assists	0.17	0.00	0.16
xAG	0.09	0.04	0.19
Progressive Carries	1.68	1.27	6.45
Progressive Passes	3.10	2.84	3.55
Shots Total	1.18	0.22	3.77
Key Passes	0.97	0.29	1.29
Shot-Creating Actions	2.30	1.18	2.90
Tackles + Interceptions	3.27	3.10	1.78
Stats taken from FBref

When you compare the creativity numbers of Ait-Nouri against Madueke, who is a natural winger, and Cucurella, who has played a host of different roles already, you can see the Wolves defender provides more quality going forward than the Spaniard.

Ait-Nouri ranks closely to Madueke in progressive passes per 90, key passes per 90, and shot-creating actions per 90, whilst having better assists per 90 metrics than the England winger.

A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.

Cucurella, on the other hand, offers much less in the way of progressive qualities and creativity but instead adds defensive intensity and leadership at the back.

By adding the Wolves star to the squad, Maresca would have real flexibility in his decision-making, using Cucurella for certain game types, and the 23-year-old Algerian for others.

This would be yet another string to the Italian’s tactical bow, and something that could make the Blues that little bit more unpredictable.