Chelsea have made signing a new midfielder in January a priority, and Bournemouth’s Alex Scott is at the top of their shortlist.

Despite a firm stance during the summer and earlier in the season, Bournemouth now seem prepared to sell Scott. It is excellent news for Chelsea, who have been pursuing the 23-year-old for a while now.

Chelsea need a midfielder with Martin Zubimendi’s profile

Chelsea were linked with Martin Zubimendi in the summer, and there are now fresh reports that he wants to leave Arsenal in January and that the Blues have been informed of this. It seems unlikely that Arsenal would sell Zubimendi in the middle of a title race, but he is not starting games for them right now.

The £60m Spain international could force an exit, and if so, Chelsea need to be all over him. Zubimendi could be the missing piece of the jigsaw at Stamford Bridge.

In the middle of the park this season, there has been too much inconsistency. There have been a couple of matches where Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson were able to control the game, but there have also been others where the midfield has been absolutely dominated. The 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur instantly comes to mind.

That night, Chelsea saw only 31% of the ball despite being the home side. Even when Alonso’s side managed to beat Brighton & Hove Albion at the Bridge at the start of the campaign, they only had 26% possession on the day.

Having a player like Zubimendi would drastically improve them in that area. Zubimendi is a real conductor in the engine room, and his passing numbers show that.

Last season, Zubimendi completed 1,684 passes in the Premier League, according to FotMob. He outperformed 95.1% of midfielders in the division. Three hundred and seventy-three of those passes were line-breaking ones as well, with the 27-year-old outperforming 85.2% of his positional peers.

Not only can Zubimendi pass the ball, then, but he can also play it through the lines. If Zubimendi was on the pitch against Spurs, for example, the midfield battle may have ended very differently.

To emphasise the above, speaking to Sky Sports about Zubimendi last year, former Real Sociedad coach Aitor Zulaika said: “He is so good with the ball, controlling the game, passing.

“But he defends brilliantly as well. He is good in all aspects. He can pass short or long, he can break lines by driving forward with the ball, he gets shots off, he runs a lot of kilometres, he cuts out so many passes on the ground and in the air.”

Romeo Lavia can do a lot of what Zubimendi does, but the issue with the Belgian is obviously his fitness. It is just one reason why Chelsea are chasing Scott. The England star’s profile is quite different to Lavia and Zubimendi’s, though. He will not bring as much control to the midfield as either of the two.

Scott’s style is more about dynamism and intensity. He is a box-to-box midfielder who wants to get up and down the pitch, whereas Lavia and Zubimendi are sitters who receive the ball on the edge of the box and construct the beginning phase of an attacking move.

Simply put, Lavia is a better partner for Caicedo, while the same can be said of Zubimendi. Scott has huge potential, but from what we have seen from Chelsea this season, they need Zubimendi’s profile more.