Comprehensive scout report of Chelsea and Manchester United target Federico Chiesa

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Bengaluru, May 7: One of the most coveted players in Serie A, Federico Chiesa has been strongly linked with several clubs across Europe in recent times. Chelsea have a long-standing interest in the young forward while Manchester United are also believed to be a big fan of the 22-year-old. He has also been linked with clubs like Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur.

On the other hand, the Fiorentina starlet finds his stock pretty high in his homeland Italy as well with Juventus, Inter Milan and Napoli all expressing their interest in the 17-time capped Italian international.

Here, we take a look at the Italian wonderkid who has emerged as one of the brightest prospects in European football:

Versatile

These days, most clubs look forward to recruiting players who are natural in a number of positions so that they can be useful in different tactics. And, Chiesa certainly ticks that box with his incredible versatility. The 22-year-old is predominantly a winger who likes to operate from the right flank but can be useful on the left flank as well.

This season, he has mostly featured as a secondary striker for Fiorentina in a 3-5-2 formation and has been pretty decent in that role as well. The Italian international, who is gifted with such adaptability and versatility, has what it takes to become a world-class footballer in coming years.

He is either footed

It is incredibly hard to find players who are almost equally efficient with both feet but Chiesa is one such rare talent. The 22-year-old is right-footed but his left foot is almost as strong. This allows him with incredible ball control and technical abilities. Also, he can be really unpredictable at times thanks to this and can be equally dangerous from either flank. He is still only 22 and far from a finished article but under the right management, he can prove to be one of the best wingers in the coming years.

Would do much better at a top club

It is really difficult to judge a player playing for a struggling side. Fiorentina has been really disappointing this season and were sitting 13th in the table before the outbreak of coronavirus put a halt in Serie A. But, if not for Chiesa, their position could have been a lot worse. The 22-year-old is the key player of Giuseppe Iachini's side and would certainly do much better at a bigger club where he will not have such a burden on his young shoulders.

Key statistics

If we look at the statistics of Chiesa this season, it would be pretty clear that Fiorentina looks forward to the young forward to bail them out on every occasion. He has attempted 3.7 shots on an average every 90 minutes this season in Serie A which is really high in comparison to his tally of six goals.

However, almost 1.8 shots among them have been from outside the box. He has successfully completed 1.5 dribbles and 1.3 key passes every 90 minutes this season which shows how creative he is.

Areas of improvement

Chiesa is still far from a finished article and has a lot of areas where he can improve. One such area is his passing accuracy of 75.9% which is far from impressive but considering in the role in which he is deployed, it is understandable.

Also with a frame of 5 feet 9 inches, he is inferior in the air and it shows from his 0.3 aerial duels won per game. He must develop his physique in coming years and also needs to know how to use his short slender stature in the way Lionel Messi or Eden Hazard does.