Chelsea are currently engulfed in a season unforeseen when Todd Boehly and co assumed ownership of the prestigious Premier League club last year.
Having spent over £550m on the transfer front since last summer, there was a weight of expectation at Stamford Bridge, but a poor start to the season saw the dismissal of esteemed manager Thomas Tuchel, who was consequently replaced by Graham Potter to galvanise the ranks and instill fluidity and cohesion across the board.
Poached from Brighton & Hove Albion, Potter’s impact has been anything but emphatic, with the Blues currently holding wins in just two of the last 15 matches across all competitions, tenth in the league – 14 points off Tottenham Hotspur in fourth – and out of both domestic cups by the hand of Manchester City.
As such, former Real Madrid icon Zinedine Zidane has been earmarked as a potential replacement for Boehly’s under-fire head coach, who has reportedly been handed two matches to save his tenure, according to Spanish outlet Sport.
Could Zinedine Zidane find his next Karim Benzema in Joao Felix?
With Chelsea scoring only 23 goals from 24 league matches this season, the requirement for newfound offensive vigour is paramount to their future success.
And given the expansive pool of talent that the west London club possess, the right managerial appointment could pay dividends in reinstating the flow that has fallen by the wayside under Potter’s reign.
One star who could benefit most auspiciously is on-loan forward Joao Felix, 23, who was signed for roughly £10m from Atletico Madrid for the remainder of the campaign.
Having scored Chelsea’s only goal in February, neatly dispatching from a fine looped through ball from record-breaking £107m January acquisition Enzo Fernandez, Felix has looked a cut above for large portions of his time in London, elegant and guileful with his innate weaving movements; “a beautiful player to watch”, according to talent scout Jacek Kulig.
Should Zidane wind up in the Chelsea dugout, he could nurture the 23-year-old into his next Karim Benzema, who forged 217 outings under his countryman, scoring 108 goals and supplying 49 assists, instrumental in winning three Champions League trophies and two La Liga titles, notably.
Felix is certainly not a carbon copy of the magnificent Benzema, but there is certainly a semblance between the two forwards and their respectively all-encompassing offensive arsenals, with both strikers holding a certain sense of creative ingenuity that evades most professionals.
As per FBref, Felix ranks among the top 9% of forwards for progressive passes and progressive carries, the top 12% for attempted passes, and the top 14% for shot-creating actions per 90 in Europe’s top five leagues over the last 365 days, illustrating his transitional nature and expertise in breaking through the lines with both passing prowess and direct dribbling.
Benzema, comparatively, ranks among the top 3% for shot-creating actions, top 1% for pass completion, top 2% for progressive passes, and top 8% for assists per 90, and while the 35-year-old is one of the most distinguished and revered striking sensations of his generation, indeed the current Ballon d’Or holder, Felix has ample time to grow into his skin and emulate the feats of a star who spent much of his career under Zidane’s wing.
Given the sheer scope of the attacking talent Zidane has utilised during his managerial career, this winning formula could be the optimum strategy to nurture and harness the ability of this withered Chelsea squad.
And with Felix already showing glimpses of truly world-class credentials, Zidane could be the perfect manager to spearhead the charge, with the Portuguese phenom at the front.
The Frenchman has already shown that he has the coaching chops to get the best out of a world-class striker, in Benzema, and the Chelsea attacker could be the club’s own version of Benzema if they hire the 50-year-old coach.
