The work that sporting director Paul Winstanley does at Chelsea has not gone unnoticed.
Alongside Chelsea’s other co-sporting director, Laurence Stewart, Winstanley has been nominated for the Best Sporting Director award at the Globe Soccer Awards.
Winstanley and Stewart have faced a lot of criticism from Chelsea supporters for some of the transfer business that they have done at the club.
Would Endrick be a good signing for Chelsea?
However, there is one signing that fans will definitely have no complaints about.
Malo Gusto is Paul Winstanley’s most underrated signing at Chelsea
Winstanley oversaw Chelsea’s transfer business in the 2023 January transfer window, bringing in Malo Gusto from Lyon. With the Blues spending big on the likes of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, it is fair to say that Gusto has gone under the radar a bit.
Gusto is one of Enzo Maresca’s most important players right now, yet he is not getting the same amount of credit as some of Chelsea’s other stars.
It was the defender who opened the scoring against a very sturdy Wolverhampton Wanderers side just before the international break. Had it not been for his great positioning and header, the Blues may have drawn that game.
Even so, it was Alejandro Garnacho and Estevao Willian who received all of the praise after the full-time whistle.
It is understandable. After all, Garnacho set up two goals, including Gusto’s header, while Estevao’s cameo was another bright one. However, it shows that Gusto can be underappreciated at times.
It was only his first goal for Chelsea, but the France international is starting to adapt to the inverted full-back role that Maresca is using him in and played almost 50 games last season. Again, he has become very important to the Chelsea head coach and only cost his club around £30m.
When you bear that in mind, it is quite easy to argue that Gusto is the most underrated signing Chelsea have made in recent years. No, he is obviously not as good as Caicedo or Cole Palmer, for example. But they are rated both inside and outside Chelsea. Gusto, on the other hand, not as much.
Why Chelsea may have to sell Malo Gusto eventually
It is thought that Bayern Munich had Gusto on their radar during the summer. Maresca will be glad that he stayed, but the Italian may not always have the 22-year-old as an option.
At some point, as long as he can stay fit, you would expect Reece James to nail down the right-back spot at Chelsea.
However, Gusto has way too much quality to be sitting on the Stamford Bridge bench. He is unlikely to settle for that either as his stock goes up.
It means that the former Lyon man could have to force himself out of Chelsea one day in order to secure regular first-team minutes.
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