It looks like Chelsea will continue to seize transfers by signing Olympic Lyon defender Malo Gusto right from under Manchester United’s nose.
The young right-back was linked with the Red Devils back in the summer, and the 19-year-old was appointed a player who can strengthen a rather weak position in Eric Ten Haga’s team.
Diogo Dalot had a great campaign under the new coach, but a couple of weeks ago he seemed to be the only right-back the Dutchman trusted.
Aaron Van Bissaka has played just four minutes of Premier League football, returning to the game after a break at the World Cup.
Since then, he has had a series of good performances, surprising many with his contribution to the attacking phase of his team.
However, question marks still remain, and many still consider the former Crystal Palace man to be unreliable in possession and unsuitable for Ten Hag’s methods.
Little Gusto, as one of the most talented young outfield defenders in world football, is an excellent option to consolidate the position of right-back for many years to come.
At the age of 19, he has already established himself as the main player of Lyon, and although he sometimes replaced the central defender, he has attacking qualities in accordance with the Ten Haga methodology.
He is an exceptionally creative defender, this season he makes 1.4 key passes per game and 1.9 assists per game.
For reference: even during Van Bissaki’s impressive performance in the team this season, the 25-year-old player managed to make only 0.8 key passes per game and only 0.5 crosses in 90 minutes.
While Gusto would be a great addition to United’s lineup — and may have been fairly easy to acquire last summer after he first started making a fuss — it looks like interest in the player is about to reach a climax.
Chelsea, according to L’Equipe, are looking to strengthen their defense with the help of the Lyon star after bringing in Mikhail Mudrik, Joao Felix and Noni Maduke to strengthen their attack during the January transfer window.
However, they are far from the only team fighting for Gusto: Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund are also watching the player.
But given Chelsea’s success in making deals—albeit seemingly haphazard ones—along the lines of Todd Pain and his consortium, the safe money at the moment seems to be with the Blues.
This will certainly be the case if the player decides to move in January, as few clubs, least of all Manchester United, can currently match Chelsea’s financial strength.
If Gusto stays in place, the situation may change in the summer, although even then United will most likely enter the fight only in response to a change in the circumstances of Dalot or Van Bissaki.
