Micah Richards have claimed that Chelsea defender Benoit Badiashile is one of the brightest talents in world football.
He told ‘The Monday Night Club’ that he is one of the extremely talented players signed by Chelsea during the January transfer window.
Despite joining with very little fanfare early this year, the Frenchman has been a dominant force in both a back two and back three whenever he has played.
However, those appearances seemed to dry up towards the end of Graham Potter’s time at Chelsea.
Notably, the former manager elected to not start Badiashile and Trevoh Chalobah against Aston Villa on Saturday, instead choosing to start full-backs Reece James and Marc Cucurella as centre-backs.
This surprising call was perhaps one of the final factors that led to Potter’s sacking, which certainly looked like it was coming for a while.
Richards praises Badiashile
Richards has hinted that Badiashile is too good a player not to start for the Blues, mentioning his impact alongside the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Joao Felix’s.
He said: “I think what he has signed [is very good]. Enzo Fernandez, World Cup winner. Mudryk, people will jump on the bandwagon and say he’s not a good player, but he’s a very good player, he’s not done it at Chelsea.
“Badiashile is one of the brightest young talents there is in world football and he’s playing very well, he’s not in the Champions League squad. Joao Felix has played well, the times I’ve seen him has been brilliant.”
Perhaps the new signing’s inability to play in the Champions League this season impacted on Potter’s mind when selecting teams.
With Europe holding their only chance at rescuing anything this season, team selection was absolutely crucial, and it perhaps explains why other combinations have been trialled in league games.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
