Chelsea are currently in the race to secure a top five finish in the Premier League in order to secure Champions League football for the 2025/26 campaign.
The Blues, who are currently competing in the Conference League, are fourth in the division heading into the last international break of the season, but they are only two points ahead of Brighton & Hove Albion in seventh and four points ahead of Aston Villa in ninth.
This means that Enzo Maresca’s men still have plenty of work left to do in the final nine games of the campaign to ensure that they remain in the top five of the league.
The London giants were beaten 1-0 by city rivals Arsenal at The Emirates in their last game before the break, thanks to a Mikel Merino header, and they will be hoping to bounce back to winning ways against Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge next time out.
As well as focusing on the final games of the season, Chelsea will also have one eye on the summer transfer window and the business that they want to do to improve the squad.
As you can see in the report above from Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea have already secured two signings from Portuguese side Sporting, but there could also be players on their way out of Stamford Bridge.
Previous interest in Benoit Badiashile
Ahead of the January transfer window, Football Insider reported that there was some interest in Chelsea central defender Benoit Badiashile.
The report claimed that European giants Juventus and Marseille were keen on a swoop for the French centre-back ahead of the second half of the season, which came off the back of Italian side Milan reportedly showing a strong interest in his services last summer.
Football Insider revealed, however, that the Blues were prepared to block any efforts from other clubs to disrupt their squad, as they wanted to maintain consistency throughout the campaign.
The outlet did not state whether or not their stance on the ex-Monaco man, whose contract runs till the summer of 2030, will change in the summer transfer window later this year.
In The Pipeline
All of this interest from elsewhere suggests that Chelsea could move the French flop on if they decided to cash in on his services, which is exactly what they should now look to do.
Why Chelsea should sell Benoit Badiashile
The Blues signed Badiashile from Monaco for a reported fee of £35m at the start of 2023, just over two years ago, and he is yet to establish himself as a key player for the club.
He has only started 28 Premier League matches in those two years, with ten coming in his first five months at Stamford Bridge, and only three of those starts have been under Maresca.
The 23-year-old dud recently missed 12 league games with a hamstring injury, but he had been an unused substitute or failed to make the matchday squad in 11 of the first 15 top-flight outings this season.
Starts
10
15
3
Clean sheets
4
3
0
Error led to shot
1
1
2
Error led to goal
0
1
0
Penalties committed
0
1
0
As you can see in the table above, Badiashile has made six errors that have led to shots, goals, or penalties for the opposition in just 28 starts in the Premier League for Chelsea in his career, helping to keep just seven clean sheets in that time.
Overall, the former Monaco star has not been a successful signing for the Blues as he has rarely been used and is error-prone when on the pitch, which is why Maresca must move on from him this summer.
Chelsea do not have to dip into the transfer market to sign a replacement for Badiashile, however, as Maresca already has Aaron Anselmino who should be unleashed in his place.
Why Chelsea should unleash Aaron Anselmino
The 19-year-old defender signed for the Blues from Boca Juniors last summer and remained on loan with his club until January of this year, when he officially linked up with his new teammates at Cobham.
He is yet to make his first-team debut for Chelsea but was on the bench for the defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup and the Premier League last month, which shows that the centre-back is on the periphery of the senior squad.
Anselmino, who was described as an “exciting” talent by analyst Ben Mattinson, has played in the middle of a back three and on the right and left side of a centre-back pairing in his career, which suggests that he could comfortably play on either side of the defence.
The teenage titan’s statistics for Boca Juniors during the 2024 campaign also suggest that the potential is there for him to be more reliable than Badiashile has been for Maresca.
Appearances
12
Pass accuracy in own half
94%
Possession lost per game
7.7x
Tackles + interceptions per game
3.8
Error led to shot/goal
0
Duels won per game
3.1
As you can see in the table above, Anselmino played 12 times in the Argentine top-flight last year and did not make a single error that led to a shot or a goal, whilst almost making four tackles and interceptions per match.
The young colossus, who started at centre-back in a 3-0 win for the U21s against Liverpool on Sunday, should now be given an opportunity to show what he can do at first-team level for Chelsea.
Badiashile has not proven himself to be a reliable performer for the Blues over the past two years and Maresca now has the opportunity to finally bin the French flop by unleashing Anselmino, who does not make errors on a regular basis, as his replacement in the squad.
At the age of 19, the Argentine youngster would also be a player who could grow and develop as a result of this exposure to the Premier League and first-team football in England, which is another reason why bringing him into the fold could make sense for Chelsea.
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This would then free up the space for the club to capitalise on the interest from the likes of Marseille and Juventus, who could return to sign the left-footed giant ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
