Chelsea have shown interest in the former Arsenal winger, Serge Gnabry. The Blues missed out on a chance to sign Brazilian winger Raphinha from Leeds United. He was keen on a move to Barcelona and is likely to play for the Spanish club in the coming season. Chelsea were looking for a right-winger after they decided to offload Hakim Ziyech from the team. Ziyech is on the transfer radar of AC Milan and is one of their top priorities for the summer. This will leave a vacant position on the right wing, and Serge Gnabry is being considered the player to fill the spot. The 27-year-old has earned a lot of success since joining Bayern Munich in 2017. Last season, he helped his side win the Bundesliga title and reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Some of the stats from last season show why he could be a perfect fit under Thomas Tuchel.
Gnabry played 44 games for the German giants last season. He scored 17 goals and provided six assists in all competitions. In the UEFA Champions League, the winger made eight appearances, and three of them were off the bench. He managed to score three goals in the competition.
The 27-year-old was involved in 13.9 attacking actions per 90 minutes and had a high success rate of 52.4%. His pace and skills with the ball allow him to beat the opposition defenders easily. Gnabry averaged 5.7 dribbles per 90 minutes with a high success rate of around 77%. He took eight touches inside the opposition’s penalty box per 90 minutes, and this shows that the player has the ability to find space in between the defence. The above viz shows all the 15 shots that were attempted by the winger. Most of the shots were attempted from the right side, with seven being on target. This shows that he can frequently create chances for himself inside the penalty box.
The above viz shows the passing and progression stats of the winger in these games. When looking at the above chart, the general rule is that the longer the bar, the better the performance — you can see the league average in the middle, and the % is the percentile rank the player is in. The winger was unable to provide an assist but led the stats chart. He averaged more than 52 passes per 90 minutes and had an accuracy rate of 83.1%. He averaged almost four crosses per 90 minutes. This shows that Gnabry can deliver dangerous passes into the opposition’s penalty box and create a threat towards the goal.
The above viz shows the pass map of the winger in the UEFA Champions League. As mentioned earlier, Gnabry likes to cross the ball and delivered some dangerous passes in front of the goal and inside the opposition’s 6-yard box. He has repeatedly stretched the defence and attempted crosses from near the goal line. Most of the passes were directed towards Joshua Kimmich, followed by Thomas Müller and Benjamin Pavard.
Chelsea usually play in a 3-5-2-formation and occasionally in a 3-4-3-formation. They let their wingers stay on the front foot, and that allows the wing-backs to get involved in the play. If Serge Gnabry joins Chelsea, he will benefit greatly and may be involved in more attacking actions. He can score and create goals and could help Chelsea win trophies. The Blues are still enquiring about him and might sign him before the end of the transfer window.
