Kolkata, January 25: As per rumours in England, European champions Chelsea have identified VfB Stuttgart star Borna Sosa as a solution to their ongoing issues at left wingback.
The Blues have lost their first-choice left wingback Ben Chilwell to a serious cruciate ligament that will keep him out for the rest of the season.
And, Chilwell's absence has caused a serious damage to the Blues' season and Thomas Tuchel is desperately looking to address the issue by bringing in a capable stand in for the Englishman.
It is quite clear to see that Tuchel is far from impressed with error-prone Marcos Alonso and has even tweaked his system to four at the back. The German gaffer has played Malang Sarr, who is a centre-back by trade, at left-back in the last few games which shows that Tuchel has lost his faith in Alonso. Such has been the Blues' desperation that they even tried to get Emerson Palmieri back from his loan spell at Lyon three times but the French side rejected their £3.35 million compensation offer.
It is now believed that Sosa, who was previously reported to be an Aston Villa target, finds himself near the top of the Chelsea wishlist. Sosa is capable of playing anywhere down the left flank and that makes him a perfect fit for Tuchel's usual 3-4-3 system in which the two wing backs operate high and wide. Sosa is a player who loves to make bombarding runs down the left flank and make his presence felt going forward.
The 24-year-old is a brilliant crosser of the ball and had a sensational season last time out in Bundesliga during which he turned provider for 10 goals in 26 games and it was enough to reward him with a place in the Croatia national team. Capped five times by Zlatko Dalic's side so far, the 24-yearp-old is having a decent season this time out but his team are still struggling in the relegation zone.
It is presumed that Stuttgart are said to want £25 million for the Croatian international and the Blues are more than willing to stump up the fee and it seems like a good deal for all the parties. In the long run, Sosa can turn out to be a solid deputy of Chilwell and should be an upgrade over Alonso or Emerson who have both missed their opportunity to impress the Stamford Bridge faithful.