According to several reports, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has listed Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves as his top transfer target ahead of the January transfer window.
Chelsea have looked short on midfield options due to injuries and the Covid-19 outbreak at the club. Following which Thomas Tuchel is keen to bring in new faces in the January transfer window to get their title challenge back on track.
The European champions have drawn their last two Premier League games and now sit 3rd in the league table, six points behind league leaders Manchester City. Spanish media outlet Todofichajes have reported that Thomas Tuchel sees Ruben Neves as the perfect signing for the heart of the Chelsea midfield.
The Portuguese midfielder has played 17 league games for Wolves this term. He has scored one and assisted one in this time. Overall Ruben Neves has made 194 appearances in all competitions for Wolves. In this time he has recorded 21 goals and set up a further 11 goals for his teammates. (stats via Transfermarkt)
Manchester United and Real Madrid are also scouting the 24-year-old Portuguese midfielder. Ruben Neves has a contract until 2024 with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Can Ruben Neves solve Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea’s midfield woes?
With Jorginho 29 and Kante 30, Ruben Neves can be the perfect long-term replacement for the midfield duo. N’Golo Kante has also had his share of injury problems this term and has seen eyebrows raised among Chelsea supporters. While on-loan midfielder Saul has failed to impress the Chelsea faithful and has looked out of his depth in the Premier League.
This term the midfielder has averaged 2.1 tackles, 1.1 clearances, and 0.9 interceptions per match in the Premier League. He has also averaged 0.8 key passes per match and maintained a pass completion rate of 83.4% in the league this term (stats via Whoscored). Those stats are good enough to show that Ruben Neves can easily slot into the blue midfield and not look out of place at all.
The Portuguese midfielder can be the heart of the Chelsea midfield for years to come. But according to reports, Wolverhampton Wanderers will only consider bids of at least €45m (£38.2m).
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