Mario Melchiot has now shared details of a conversation he had with Chelsea youngster Malo Gusto during pre-season.
Malo Gusto, 20, delivered a man of the match performance yesterday for the Blues
The French defender provided an assist and an all-action display during Chelsea’s 2-1 home win against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
He started the game in his natural right-back position. However, he finished the match at left-back, putting in an excellent performance in both roles.
Mario Melchiot, the ESPN pundit and former Chelsea player, claims he had a conversation with Gusto back in the summer during the club’s pre-season tour.
Apparently, the Blues talent explained he really doesn’t mind playing right-back or left-back.
“You just don’t want a 1v1 of Colwill against Olise… When he put Malo Gusto against him, it was a different game. I think Malo Gusto had a good game. He set up the first goal and the kid could handle both sides [of the pitch],” Melchiot told ESPN.
“I had a quick chat with him in pre-season and he said left or right didn’t matter to him. He literally showed it today.”
Versatile Malo Gusto
We were getting flashbacks of Cesar Azpilicueta with the way that Gusto played in both full-back positions versus Palace.
Azpilicueta, who exited Stamford Bridge in the summer, is one of Chelsea’s best ever defenders. A big reason of that was his versatility to play anywhere across the backline.
We’re still in the very infancy of Gusto’s career in West London, but there’s so much to love about his game.
The aggressive full-back can both attack and defend to a high standard, so Chelsea are very fortunate to have him as back-up to Reece James at right-back.
We certainly wouldn’t rule out seeing both James and Gusto starting in the same XI at a later date.
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