Scout Report: Eliaquim Mangala - John Terry's replacement at Chelsea?

Eliaquim Mangala

FC Porto look set to continue their impressive player development scheme as one of their players catches the attention of the Europe’s elite once again.

Over the past ten seasons they have become renowned for bringing promising players through the ranks and then selling them on for immense fees. A roll of honour that includes the like of Deco (£18.6m), Anderson (£21.1m), Paulo Ferreira (£16m), Jose Bosingwa (£16.9m), Falcao (£38.1m), Hulk (£33-60m), Ricardo Queresma (£18.6m); the list goes on, and on.

According to the Daily Mirror, these names are about to be joined by another this January as Monaco, Manchester City and Chelsea are all chasing France defender Eliaquim Mangala and are willing to match his reported £33.8m release clause.

Mangala joined the perennial Portuguese champions in 2011 for £5.5m after impressing for Standard Liege, playing a part in their successful 2008/09 league campaign. The next season he became a key figure at the Belgian side and began playing for the France Under-21 side despite holding a Belgian passport because of his residence in Liege since the age of five.

His reputation grew across Europe as an athletic defender with a strong physical presence at set-pieces. This was seen on the highest club stage when he opened the scoring in a home defeat against Arsenal in the 2009/10 Champions League group stages.

Another solid season in Belgium saw him earn his move to Porto where he has earned his place in the side after impressing last season finishing with seven goals despite and over 30 appearances despite starting way down the pecking order. This form saw him make his debut for France’s senior team against Uruguay earlier this year and with all due respect, a move to a bigger league than Portugal’s Superliga could see him on the plane to Brazil next summer.

Mangala has averaged an impressive 92% passing accuracy in this season’s Champions League

If Chelsea’s interest is true then he could be just the man to replace the aging John Terry at Stamford Bridge. Terry is known for his presence in the air and Mangala would ensure that the club does not lose any ground in the attacking third as well as defensively.

Mangala seems a born winner, too. In his short career the 22-year old already has three domestic titles to his name as well as five cup competitions. This winning mentality is a vital aspect of making the grade at one of Europe’s elite clubs and goes a long way to explaining the interest that has been shown in him.

In the two Champions League matches he’s played for Porto this year he holds an impressive pass accuracy rate of 92% as well as winning all three of the tackles he has gone in for.

Mangala’s record in duels in this season’s Champions League

Some may balk at the price-tag the young central defender holds but if you look at the club’s history for producing world-class defenders it’s really no surprise to see Chelsea willing to match his release clause. Jose Mourinho will be hoping he can follow in the footsteps of players like Ricardo Carvalho, Bruno Alves and Pepe who have all left Porto for large sums of money and lived up to their price-tags at some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

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