LUIZ
David Luiz was not on Antonio Conte’s original list of
targets – because the Chelsea coach wasn’t aware the 29-year-old could be
prised from Paris Saint-Germain.
Conte asked PSG about Marquinhos, 22, also a Brazilian, but
was told it would cost north of £50million. Then, Chelsea were told that Luiz
was available, and two offers later he was theirs.
Luiz’s return to Chelsea for £32m gives Conte options and
the Italian coach will now look at how he can fit his transfer deadline day
signing into his team.
A good relationship between Chelsea and PSG helped the
transfer go through and Conte will hope it is as easy for him to slip Luiz into
his team.
Chelsea have won their opening three games, all without the
cover in central defence that Conte craved, but now they have it, and here’s
how they could line up.
3-5-2
Conte prefers to play with three centre-halves in a 3-5-2
formation, just as he did at Juventus and Italy.
At Juve, it gave him success in three Serie A titles, and
this system was based on a rare breed of defender. He had to be comfortable on
the ball, quick and ready to throw himself forward.
That was Leonardo Bonucci’s job and at the heart of a back
three, it could be Luiz’s too, with Gary Cahill and John Terry alongside him.
N’Golo Kante would still sit in front of the defence and act
as a link to the attack, as he has been doing this season in a 4-1-4-1
formation.
Luiz’s arrival means that Conte now has the option to
abandon a back four and use the 3-5-2 he loves.
4-3-3
If Conte prefers to stick to a traditional 4-3-3, then Luiz
could slot into central defence.
For us here at Sportsmail, he goes alongside 35-year-old
Terry rather than Cahill, 30 (Kurt Zouma, remember, is injured at the moment).
That leadership from his old captain will come in handy for
Luiz and so he and Terry can form a formidable partnership. Again, Kante would
act as a link ahead of the back four.
This formation would be bad news for Michy Batshuayi, who
would not make the starting line-up with Diego Costa the striker.
Yet Batshuayi, 22, is getting used to that, as Chelsea’s
4-1-4-1 formation used in their three Premier League games so far has seen him
start on the substitutes’ bench.
4-3-3
The other option for Conte is to use Luiz in midfield, with
Chelsea coach knowing how much the Brazilian likes to attack.
Another variation of 4-3-3 would allow that with Terry and
Cahill the centre-backs.
We also have Branislav Ivanovic at right-back and Cesar
Azpilicueta at left-back (we know Marcos Alonso is available after his £23m
move from Fiorentina on Wednesday).
Alonso can act as cover with Baba Rahman having been sent to
Schalke on loan and Kenedy, another player who has been used in the left-back
position by Chelsea, at Watford.
Kante, as per, gets the central position in the three in
front of Chelsea’s back four. This would allow Luis and Oscar on either side of
the former Leicester midfielder to fly forward when possible.
Then the front three would be made up of, from right to
left, Willian, Costa and Eden Hazard.
4-1-4-1
After three wins from three using this formation in the
Premier League, it is only fair to consider Conte sticking with 4-1-4-1 as an
option.
They used it to beat West Ham, then Watford, then Burnley –
not all convincingly with four of their seven goals having been scored after
the 80th minute – but it’s got them joint top.
This would simply see Luis replaces Cahill in the back four,
though this is unlikely to be a set-up that Conte continues to use now that he
has the former PSG defender at his disposal.
There is an argument to say that Cahill could be used at
centre back and Luiz higher up, possibly in Kante's position or in Matic’s.
Again, unlikely, but an option.
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