Xabi Alonso appears to be a fan of Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix, who could move to Chelsea this summer.
Lacroix is one name Chelsea are currently considering as they look to strengthen their defence ahead of the new season.
The Blues already have a lot of options, but most of them failed to convince last term. Chelsea were extremely leaky at the back, conceding 52 goals in 38 games.
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Xabi Alonso a fan of Maxence Lacroix after dominating aerial duels
Journalist Simon Phillips has claimed on Si Phillips Talks Chelsea that Alonso is convinced of Lacroix’s qualities. That is not too much of a surprise, as the 26-year-old displayed a lot of good attributes in the previous campaign.
For example, Lacroix was aerially dominant. According to WhoScored, he won 3.4 aerial duels per game in the Premier League, which was the highest average in Palace’s squad.
It was also more than what any Chelsea defender managed to average. Wesley Fofana won the most aerial duels per game at Chelsea, winning 2.8.
Fofana’s overall defending was not convincing, though, which is one reason why the Club World Cup holders are looking at Lacroix and other centre-halves in the first place.
Maxence Lacroix also efficient at making clearances
Another area where Lacroix excelled last season was clearances. On average, he made a whopping 7.2 per game, which was, again, the highest number in his squad.
Had the Frenchman been at Chelsea, he also would have topped all of their players in that department, too.
All in all, if Chelsea were to sign Lacroix this summer, they would be getting a very strong and safe defender.
While Lacroix could arrive at Stamford Bridge, Trevoh Chalobah looks set to depart. Inter Milan are pushing to sign Chalobah, whose likely sale would represent pure profit for Chelsea after coming through the club’s academy. Chelsea’s owners will find it hard to say no to that.
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