Why Chelsea must make a move for Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure

Back in January 2019, Daily Mirror had claimed that Chelsea were interested in signing Watford midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure. However, no deal materialised and he stayed put at Watford.

Abdoulaye Doucoure, 27, has been a consistent performer for Watford since swapping Rennes back in 2016, establishing himself as a firm favourite among the supporters at Vicarage Road. He won Watford’s Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season awards in the 2017-18 season. The midfielder’s impressive performances saw him get rewarded with a new five-year contract in August 2018.

The Frenchman impressed last season as he made 35 Premier League appearances, scoring five goals and providing six assists in the process for the Hornets. This season, however, Doucoure has blown hot and cold, with the Hornets currently battling relegation.

Meanwhile, Chelsea were unable to sign players last summer, which forced Frank Lampard to utilize the club’s youth players. The transfer ban was uplifted in January, yet the Blues failed to make any signings.

Despite not signing any players in the last two transfer windows, Frank Lampard deserves plaudits for helping Chelsea break into the top four. He has successfully blooded academy products such as Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Reece James and Fikayo Tomori into the first-team. And in a bid to support him next season, the Blues board has already completed the signing of Hakim Ziyech from Ajax, with the Moroccan set to officially join the club in June.

After signing the highly-rated Ziyech, Lampard should shift his focus towards strengthening the midfield department. Jorginho has been a consistent performer in midfield under Lampard, but the Italian has received very little support from the likes of N’Golo Kante, Ross Barkley and Mateo Kovacic.

Kante has been hit with injuries this season, while Barkley has blown hot and cold for the majority of the season.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek is yet to feature for the West Londoners this season, having been out since May with a ruptured Achilles. This makes the signing of a central midfielder very important for the Blues and they must rekindle their interest in Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Doucoure is a versatile player who can operate in various roles across the middle of the park. He has largely played as a holding midfielder for Watford but has been pushed into a more advanced role under manager Nigel Pearson, with the Frenchman thriving in the No.10 role ahead of Will Hughes and Etienne Capoue. In the process, he has netted four goals and registered two assists in 27 games.

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In the last two seasons combined, he has supplied with 12 goals and 10 assists in 79 appearances across all competitions for Watford. That’s a healthy return for a central midfielder.

Verdict

Thus, Doucoure could also add goals from midfield for Chelsea, having proven himself as a goal-threat at Vicarage Road over the last few years. The former Rennes man is 27 and deserves a step-up in his career, having already outlined his dreams of playing in the Champions League. (h/t The Metro)

Doucoure would add quality as well as depth to Chelsea’s midfield ranks. Thus, the Blues must not think twice about recruiting the Watford midfielder in the summer.