Tackling King: Midfield enforcer Morgan Schneiderlin would be perfect for Jose Mourinho’s masterplan

He’d also, in theory, do a far better job than Mikel at the base of midfield. Numbers never tell the full story, but here are some for you: Over the course of last season, Schneiderlin averaged seven defensive actions per game, created 29 chances, and won 108 tackles (the most in the league last season).

Over the same time – although in 14 fewer appearances – Mikel averaged three defensive actions, created less than a chance every three games, and made 40 tackles.

Click on the image to enlarge

The above comparison is, of course, not entirely fair, as Mikel was playing for a side that for the large part dominated games and as such had less defending and tackling to busy himself with.

That said, Southampton were hardly a reactive, possession-ceding side themselves, especially after the January arrival of Mauricio Pochettino, when the side demonstrated a wholly modern mode of high pressing, fast-paced attacking intent.

Indeed, the Frenchman’s passing accuracy hovered at around the same level as Mikel’s across last campaign – Schneiderlin ended the season with a thoroughly decent 85%, which he has carried into this term. And, with Mikel being such an infamously conservative passer, the old argument of ‘yeah, but where do those passes go?’ need not apply.

Click on the image to enlarge

The other, more indirect effect, such an arrival could have is to provide Mikel with some much-needed motivation, in the form of positional competition, to motivate him into playing at a higher level.

Despite having underwhelmed for the most part of his seven seasons at Stamford Bridge, there remains an argument to be made that Mikel, despite the stacks of evidence, is actually a talented footballer – consider not just the monumental fallout between Chelsea and Manchester United over his recruitment, but also his repeated ability to seemingly discover new depths of talent (and a strangely incisive range of passing) in his outings for Nigeria.

Since he joined Chelsea, the only other definitive holding midfielders to be signed have been Steve Sidwell, Nemanja Matic and Oriol Romeu – hardly the sort of names to inspire fear and improvement among their competition. Schneiderlin, though, could perhaps have such an effect.

Chelsea have shown in the past that they’re not averse to raiding the Premier League’s less privileged members for a quick-fix January reinforcement. Last year it was Demba Ba, but before him came Gary Cahill, and before him Fernando Torres. Indeed, the January employment of Schneiderlin – or an equivalent – would continue Chelsea’s jolly tradition of festive economic exploitation.

There are risks, of course – any player yet to taste the champagne of elite-level football represents something of a chancy purchase (just ask Scott Parker or Shaun Wright-Phillips, whose prospering careers were pushed into reverse after they were tempted by the riches and profile on offer at Stamford Bridge), and it’s very much a ‘sink or swim’ scenario for the player.

Furthermore, the Southampton man signed a long-term deal in the summer, so the Saints could be unwilling to sell.

But such risks are made worthwhile by the relative pittance such a player would cost the club – Schneiderlin moved to Southampton for a fee of £1.2m in 2008, while Roman Abramovich has an estimated fortune of nearing £10billion – he could probably stretch to Southampton’s asking price.

Indeed, if and when Chelsea embark on the inevitable hunt for midfield reinforcement, should the club find themselves able to look beyond their default option of glamour and expense (hi ,Willian!), the employment of Schneiderlin could turn out to be one of their wiser and more economical delvings into the transfer market of recent years.