One thing we know about Antonio Conte is that he loves centre-backs, with the new Chelsea boss regularly employing three during his time in charge of both Juventus and Italy.
Atletico Madrid’s Jose Gimenez is one of the best young players around in this position and the 21-year-old is a target for the Blues if Talksport are to be believed.
Clean sheets galore
Having made just a single appearance for the Spanish side in his debut La Liga campaign, Uruguay were still confident enough in the defender’s ability to start him in three of their four games at the 2014 World Cup.
That show of faith seemed to imbue the Atletico Madrid man with a real sense of self-belief and he went on to make 47 top-flight appearances over the course of the next couple of campaigns.
Incredibly, those matches yielded 24 clean sheets, though Gimenez is still not guaranteed a starting spot with the Champions League finalists.
That would not be a problem were he to make the switch to Stamford Bridge, however, with Gary Cahill somewhat vulnerable following last season’s underwhelming performances.
Would Gimenez be a good signing for the Blues?
In my opinion, absolutely.
Gimenez is physically imposing and a strong tackler stamping his mark as one of the best young center-backs in Europe slotting in seamlessly for the excellent Miranda alongside defensive stalwart Diego Godin.
His seamless transition proves his strength in character, which would do him the world of good if he’d ever jump ship to another league in another setting and climate, particularly a league as demanding as the Premier League.
Also, with Cahill and Terry on the wrong sides of 30, Gimenez would be a suitable long-term stand-in at the heart of defence, which is a position Conte and Chelsea need to badly reinforce after last season’s nightmarish campaign.
Gimenez is one for the future and is only going to improve in my book.
This means a potentially continuous jump and hike in transfer value, so if there’s anytime to snap this young gem then now probably is the best time to do so.
Written by the folks at Kickoff
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