Why Chelsea should let go of Emerson Palmieri amidst Juventus interest
According to a report by the Daily Express, Juventus are keeping close tabs on Chelsea misfit Emerson Palmieri. Left-back Emerson has been under Juventus’ radar for quite some time now and the Serie A giants are ready to offer Chelsea £25million this summer.
However, this is not the first time that the Blues have received interest for their out-of-favour defender. Back in January, Chelsea had rejected an offer for the Brazil-born Italian from the Turin side.
Meanwhile, Emerson, who started the Blues’ campaign this season as the first-choice, has seen himself fall down the pecking order under manager Frank Lampard. The former Chelsea star has opted to use skipper Cesar Azpilicueta and more recently Marcos Alonso at the left-back spot.
Despite starting in a number of games early in the season, Emerson failed to nail down the spot for himself. Since the beginning of the New Year, he has managed just two league appearances. Moreover, the recent good form of Alonso has put Emerson in the shadow, with the left-back spending much of his time warming the benches.
It’s no big surprise that Emerson has lost his place to Alonso given the latter’s excellent run of form in recent matches. Since being reinstated into the side, Alonso has scored three goals from six appearances.
Also, he has helped the Blues maintain back-to-back clean sheets with crucial wins over Liverpool and Everton in the FA Cup and league respectively. The 25-year-old Emerson has made just 14 league appearances this season and has not yet scored a goal or provided an assist.
Alonso, on the other hand, has found the back of the net four times and assisted thrice in fewer matches (11). Since joining Chelsea for a sum of £17.6million from Italian side Roma in January 2018, Emerson has failed to establish himself as a regular in the side.
To date, he has played just 52 games altogether and has managed to score just one goal – which came in the EFL Cup last year. Also, he has provided a total of 5 assists so far – all of which came last season under former Blues manager Maurizio Sarri, who is now the current Juventus boss.
Now with his former boss Sarri determined to strengthen his new side’s defence this summer, Emerson is one of his targets. With Chelsea clearly having no use of the left-back at the moment, it would be better for them to let go of Emerson rather than keep him unnecessarily.
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- Why Chelsea must make a move for Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure
Verdict
Emerson’s consistent snubbing from the side proves that he is not in Lampard’s plans at the moment. He is just surplus to the team’s requirements and should rather be sold – the money which they can use to bring in new recruits for the upcoming season.
