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Chelsea have been struggling with their left back position. With Marcos Alonso getting caught out of position more frequently and Emerson Palmieri performing inconsistently, The Blues should be looking into the market for a left back.
Alonso was the first choice left-back for Chelsea at the start of the season and he had a good start to the campaign where he was scoring consistently for Chelsea. But his recent performances have been below par. He has made many errors at the back that have led to goals.
Maurizio Sarri is now starting Emerson ahead of Alonso but the Italian is also dealing with the same problems and is performing inconsistently.
One of the best players for this position at Chelsea is Lyon's Ferland Mendy. He is a machine at left back. The Frenchman has a great vision for through balls as well as his crosses are pinpoint, as his passing accuracy of around 84 percent reflects.
Mendy has been a revelation for Lyon this season as he has improved most aspects of his game. He is a good dribbler and averages about 2.0 successful dribbles every game. He has had a 72 percent dribble success rate this season which is much more than Andrew Robertson's (58 percent).
Although he has not contributed to many goals at Lyon this season (two scored and two assisted), defensively he has been tough to beat. His presence on the pitch always has a positive impact on Lyon's play. Attacking wise, he creates 1.5 key passes every game (just 1 last year) and has around 1.1 shots on goal every game (0.7 last year) which is quite a good number for a left back.
He has performed consistently this season and has had a rating of 7.2 for his performances this season. He is a versatile player who can play at left back, left midfield, left defensive midfield as well as a right back. He is a player who is very similar to Manchester City's Benjamin Mendy.
Ferland forces his way through defenders and delivers a spot-on end product. Chelsea have been lacking this. The team have not created enough from the wings to let the striker score. Signing Mendy will be a blessing in disguise for Chelsea's strikers Gonzalo Higuain and Olivier Giroud, as they will be getting more goalscoring opportunities from the left side of the pitch.
Mendy is a product from the famous LeHavre academy which has produced the likes of Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet, Riyad Mahrez and Benjamin Mendy. The 23-year-old made 47 senior appearances for LeHavre's A team in two years before joining Lyon in 2017. This season he has scored twice for Lyon. He is considered to be one of the rising stars at Lyon along with the likes of Maxwell Cornet, Houssem Aouar, Nabil Fekir, and Tanguy Ndombele.
The only struggle for Mendy will be adjusting to the physical nature of the Premier League. It will be a big test for him to fit into the EPL and adjust to it in a short span of time. Many big players like Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao, and some talented players like Tiemoue Bakayoko have struggled to settle into the intensity that is present in the league.
Mendy should be physically as well as mentally very strong if a move to Chelsea breaks through for him. On the other hand, he is a gem of a player who can take the Sarri-ball to the next level with his pace, precision and creativity.
