5 new signings likely to flop in the 2017/18 Premier League season

#3 Tiemoue Bakayoko

Tiemoue Bakayoko has been accused of attitude problems in the past

Chelsea’s second expensive transfer of the summer, following Antonio Rudiger and preceding Alvaro Morata – French midfielder Bakayoko cost the Blues around £40m to bring in from Monaco. He’s expected to replace the likely outgoing Nemanja Matic as he looks to move to Manchester United, partnering N’Golo Kante in Chelsea’s midfield as a largely defensive pair.

Sounds good, right? Perhaps not. While Bakayoko had an excellent season in 2016/17 – he made 51 appearances overall as Monaco made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League and also won Ligue 1, it’s easy to forget that it was actually his third season at the club. The first two saw him only make a total of 31 appearances, as he was plagued by injuries and accusations of attitude problems, as he fell out with Monaco’s manager Leonardo Jardim and was accused of slacking during training.

He since claims that working with the legendary Claude Makelele has put his career back on track, but can anyone be truly certain after one excellent season? We’ve seen on numerous occasions before that a player can be a one-season wonder. The other issue with Bakayoko’s move to Chelsea is the question as to whether the club actually needed the Frenchman, given they had England youth star Nathaniel Chalobah in their ranks.

Chalobah plays in the same position as Bakayoko, had been at Chelsea for his whole career and simply needed a chance to break out. Instead of giving him the opportunity though, the expensive Bakayoko has been brought in instead. Given the Chelsea fans were dying to see an academy graduate make the first team, the fact that Bakayoko appears to have pushed Chalobah out of the club to Watford may put added pressure on the Frenchman – making him more likely to flop.