Chelsea are identified 2 alternatives if they fail to land Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton, according to reports.
The England international’s asking price is said to be close to £100m, so the Blues may look to sign a midfielder who is on the market for a lower amount.
Writing on his Substack, journalist Simon Phillips named Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi and AZ Alkmaar’s Kees Smit as the two players under consideration.
Bouaddi has turned heads with his performances for Morocco at the World Cup, but Lille are thought to value the teenager at around €80m (£69m).
Smit didn’t make the Netherlands squad, but he is still rated very highly, with Fabrizio Romano (among others) stating that AZ won’t let him leave for less than €60m (£52m).
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There is plenty of competition for Bouaddi
Arsenal, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain have reportedly had talks with the Moroccan international’s representatives.
Several other teams, including Manchester City, are also in the mix, so Chelsea would not be favourites to snap up Bouaddi, considering they don’t have Champions League football.
Of course, that wasn’t an issue when it came to beating Inter Milan for Marco Palestra, so there is definitely a chance that Bouaddi could be persuaded to join too.
Smit is a better fit for Chelsea
Bouaddi is an incredibly exciting young midfielder, but his strengths lie more out of possesion than on the ball.
If the Blues are looking for someone similar to Wharton, then Smit is definitely the player to pursue. In terms of chances created per 90 minutes last season, the pair have almost the exact same numbers.
The Dutchman averaged 1.56 per 90 in the Eredivisie for AZ, while Wharton recorded 1.55 per 90 in the Premier League for Palace.
Despite being pretty equal in terms of creativity, Smit is actually a lot more accurate (88.1% completion) with his passing than Wharton (79.3%).
Other Premier League teams, including Newcastle and Manchester United, have been scouting the 20-year-old, but it seems Chelsea are the ones likeliest to make a move for him at the moment.