Danny Murphy has admitted that he thinks only one Chelsea player could start for Manchester City – Ben Chilwell.
The 46-year-old made the comments when speaking on talkSPORT.
So, what did Danny Murphy say about Ben Chilwell at Chelsea? Let’s take a look…
What’s the story?
Well – speaking alongside Jim White – the man from Chester made his feelings about Chelsea crystal clear.
Murphy said: “Give me one Chelsea player who gets in City’s team. (White suggests Moises Caicedo). He’s nowhere near Rodri. Doesn’t play instead of Rodri, not in a million years. Doesn’t play instead of De Bruyne. Doesn’t play instead of Bernardo Silva.
“The only player is – maybe – Chilwell. To be honest, Akanji played left-back against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and some of the best wingers in the world, and none of them had a kick. If I had a game tomorrow I’d pick Akanji. So Chilwell is the only argument.”
Murphy is definitely right to pinpoint Chilwell.
The £50m England international was among Chelsea’s best performers against Liverpool, almost putting the Blues 2-1 ahead with a cooly taken strike, only to be denied by the offside flag.
Reece James deserves a mention alongside Ben Chilwell at Chelsea
In our view, Reece James is also good enough to start for Manchester City – especially over Kyle Walker, who is now 33 years of age.
Interestingly – according to The Athletic – Pep Guardiola actually wanted the Chelsea No.24 at the Etihad Stadium in June 2021, so the Spaniard clearly feels James has what it takes to shine in Manchester.
We also feel it’s worth mentioning that Enzo Fernandez could arguably start ahead of Mateo Kovacic for the Citizens, so Murphy is actually playing down the quality of Chelsea’s squad.
Hopefully, if anybody at Chelsea who is not Chilwell hears his comments, they use it as motivation to prove the talkSPORT pundit wrong.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
