Why Chelsea must drop their interest in Udinese’s Juan Musso

According to Gazzetta Dello Sport via Sport Witness (h/t Football London), Chelsea are interested in signing Udinese goalkeeper Juan Musso in the summer.

Juan Musso, 24, joined Udinese last season from Racing Club and has since established himself as a key player for the mid-table Serie A outfit. He has made 24 appearances between the sticks so far this season, with the Argentinean’s performances catching the attention of Chelsea. The report (h/t Football London) adds that Udinese would be willing to deal at around €30m.

Chelsea are looking to sign a new goalkeeper in the summer following Kepa Arrizabalaga’s struggles this season. (h/t Football London) Kepa represents Chelsea’s record signing, but manager Frank Lampard eventually lost patience with the 25-year-old prior to the winter break following a series of high-profile errors. He hasn’t featured since the 2-2 draw against Arsenal on January 21.

By dropping the out of form Kepa, Lampard has gone with Willy Caballero in goal in the last two league games. Lampard’s experiment with Caballero is understandable to an extent but the Blues have conceded four goals in the past two games. Caballero, 38, started against Leicester in the 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium last month and retained his place for the games against Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

Yet, Chelsea’s inability to keep clean sheets and concede cheap goals has certainly not helped their cause. Though they are 4th in the league standings, they have conceded 37 goals in 27 games so far. Chelsea do not have a third-choice keeper and with both players underperforming, Lampard must take a strong call at the end of the season. But should Lampard go for Juan Musso in the summer?

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As per WhoScored, Musso has averaged 26 passes, 6.3 long balls and a 69.1% pass accuracy, whilst conceding 36 goals and keeping eight clean sheets in just 24 Serie A games. Kepa, on the other hand, has averaged 28.3 passes, 3.8 long balls and 78.4% pass accuracy, whilst conceding 32 goals and keeping five clean sheets in 24 Premier League games. [Courtesy: WhoScored]

Verdict

Upon comparing their stats, one can see that Kepa has better numbers in certain areas than Musso. The Udinese goalkeeper may have kept more clean sheets but going purely by the numbers, he wouldn’t be an upgrade on Kepa.

Hence, Lampard should drop his interest in Musso and stick with Kepa.