5 wingers Chelsea should target as replacements for Pedro

Chelsea has had a torrid season and will be hoping that victory in the FA Cup Final against Manchester United will serve as a soothing balm for what has been a chastening season.

While a lot of factors have been responsible for the Blues’ decline from record-breaking Premier League title winners last season to Europa League qualifiers next season, the most baffling has been the drop in performances by some of last season’s key players.

David Luiz has had issues with manager Antonio Conte and has been injured a lot, Gary Cahill has been absolute pants, Eden Hazard has blown hot and cold, ditto for his national teammate Thibault Courtois.

However, it is difficult to look past Spanish winger Pedro Rodriguez as the player with the most alarming dip in form. In the 2016/2017, the 30-year-old looked every inch a star winger and contributed nine goals and nine assists in 35 games.

He has looked slow, ponderous and off-key this season with four goals and two assists in 27 games so far.

The Blues will need to get some new wingers in next season to provide better support for the strikers as well as reduce the creative workload on Hazard and improve the team’s goalscoring generally.

Here are 5 classy wing wizards who could do the business for the Stamford Bridge side next season:

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#5 Helder Costa (Wolves)

The Portuguese will make a fine replacement for Pedro

A brilliant left-footed Portuguese winger, Costa has been earning rave reviews since he arrived in English football on loan from AS Monaco in the summer of 2016 (a deal which was made permanent for a then club record of £13m).

The Angolan-born player is a versatile attacking option who is comfortable playing on either flank or just behind the main striker.

For Nuno Espirito’s Wolves, he has seen most of the action on the right wing as it has allowed him to cut in and use his trusted left foot to great effect.

Like Martins, he is a talented and very technical player who is prone to inconsistent displays from time to time but on his day, his dribbling, crossing, the audacity to try and execute difficult moves as well as his goalscoring and assisting reminds one of a certain Dimitri Payet.

Alongside fellow countrymen Ivan Cavaliero, Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota and others, Costa has been brilliant for a Wolves team that has blitzed the Championship and will be playing Premier League football next season.

His ability to beat a man would be of great benefit to a Chelsea team that always looks to the wingbacks for width and will allow a player like Hazard to occupy his preferred central role behind the striker.

It is yet unclear how much he will cost but with Wolves in a healthy position financially, the Blues will have to be ready to pay a rather high amount.

#4 Gelson Martins (Sporting Lisbon)

The flying winger would delight Blues fans were he to sign

The latest product in a long line of exceptional Portuguese wingers, the 22-year-old Cape Verde-born winger is already getting admiring glances from some of Europe’s top clubs and has been described as the next “Cristiano Ronaldo”.

A speedy and inventive wide player who is able to be effective on both flanks, he excels more on the right.

Very skillful wingers who like a younger Ricardo Quaresma has the skill to beat his man time and again, he is not the strongest winger in the land but his style of play and love for hogging the ball helps him retain possession more often than not.

He is very much a classic style winger, who loves to beat his man on the outside and cross the ball into the area.

He loves to show his flair when in possession, and also uses his pace and understanding of the game to stretch play when Sporting are looking to mount an attack.

He has a lot to improve on in terms of decision making, goals and assists but his raw talent and season-on-season improvements mean that Chelsea would be getting a good but improving player whose zip, pace and skill will add a much needed new dimension to the attack.

The Blues have been linked to the winger but might cost a princely sum to pry away from the Lisbon giants.

#3 Wilfred Zaha (Crystal Palace)

Zaha would take Chelsea's attacking play up a notch

In terms of Premier League-ready wingers who can and should fit into the Chelsea team immediately; the golden boy of Selhurst Park will be right at the top of that list.

The 25-year-old Ivorian international has been sublime this season and despite the injury problems he has had, Zaha has been integral to Crystal Palace’s survival hopes and it is not an exaggeration to say his presence gives the team that extra quality that no one else in the squad can deliver.

Pacy and elusive with brilliant dribbling skills and the ability to beat his man at will, he has made the left wing his own and is also adept at playing as a right winger or at times, function as a false 9 if need be.

His tally of eight goals and five assists in just 27 games this season show just how important he is to the Eagles cause; it is this kind of influence that could be of immense benefit to a Chelsea team that has lacked invention this season.

Zaha’s versatility and ability to play across the front line will add a new verve and dynamism to a jaded frontline and his ability to play brilliantly off a striker mean that he would gel well with either Alvaro Morata or Olivier Giroud.

He has been linked to the Stamford Bridge side and could cost the club big bucks were they to make a move for him.

#2 Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund)

The American boy wonder could be superb for the Blues if he signs up

The anointed “saviour” of American football, Pulisic’s career has been on an upward trajectory ever since he made his debut for German side Dortmund in January 2016.

The 19-year-old like most players with his type of physique: Hazard, Lionel Messi, and others is a diminutive player blessed with skills, pace, close control and the ability to make things happen and has been earmarked for great things for a while now.

Possessing pace for days and a style of dribbling that relies more on speed than body movement, his biggest strength has to do with his use of space as unlike the more inventive flair-heavy wingers like a Neymar or an Eden Hazard and relies more on beating his opponent at a rapid pace.

Like most of his Dortmund teammates, the 19-year-old has struggled this season with a paltry tally of four goals and five assists in 30 Bundesliga games. This is a reflection more on the team’s struggles and not his talent.

His blitzkrieg-running style where he is always looking to take the ball forward at all times will help the Blues transition effectively from defence to attack and will make the team a serious threat in counter-attacks.

He will not be cheap as he could potentially cost Chelsea a staggering £88m.

#1 Anthony Martial (Manchester United)

This would be a reverse-Matic move and could make Chelsea better

This is one of the more interesting transfer stories concerning Chelsea. The 22-year-old has not been a favourite of Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho in the two seasons the Portuguese has been there and there are strong indications that the Frenchman's time at Old Trafford is up.

Up until Alexis Sanchez joined the Red Devils in January, the French international had been in and out of the squad and had been having a decent enough season but stories about Mourinho being exasperated with the winger's attitude and perceived laziness have continued to go around.

Chelsea’s attack has been often slow and undynamic this season depending solely on Hazard and Willian for pace and width.

Martial's explosive pace and dribbling could come in handy and help the attack do better and given his proven Premier League status, he ticks all the right boxes for the Blues.

A frontline of Morata, Hazard (if he stays) and Martial will be a handful for any Premier League team and whether Conte stays on as the manager or not, whoever is in the dugout will have a fantastic attacking line-up to work with.

The French international has been repeatedly linked to Chelsea in recent days and for a deal to happen, a figure of £60m has been quoted.