It has been another season of footballing misery for Chelsea fans this year, and while they have made it into the semi-final of the League Cup and the fourth round of the FA Cup, they find themselves tenth in the Premier League and miles off qualifying for any European football, let alone the Champions League.
New boss Mauricio Pochettino has struggled to get his young team of promising players firing, and while there have been glimpses of brilliance here and there, the number of draws and defeats are perhaps starting to put his job under pressure.
However, the latest name touted for a move to west London could just help him turn this poor run around; a player that shares some similarities with Dele Alli when he was at his best: AS Roma's Paulo Dybala.
Chelsea transfer news – Paulo Dybala
According to Italian outlet TuttomercatoWeb, Roma star Dybala is now a transfer target for Chelsea this January.
The report reveals that due to a clause in the Argentine's contract, the Blues could get their man for as little as €12m – about £10m – and while that is still a significant amount of money, it would represent a bargain in the modern transfer market.
That said, the Giallorossi are understandably keen to keep a hold of one of their most important players midway through the season, so they're intent on renewing his deal to remove the clause that Chelsea are looking to exploit.
While Pochettino already has plenty of players he needs to find space for in his team, the opportunity to sign someone as talented as Dybala doesn't come around very often, so the Blues should be doing all they can to get this deal over the line, especially if the former Spurs manager can utilise him similarly to how he used Dele in N17.
Paulo Dybala could be Mauricio Pochettino's new Dele
Now, when talking about Dele, it is hard to ignore the significant period in which he has been unable to play due to injury or a plethora of other personal issues, which he bravely spoke about last year. However, he was near enough unplayable when he was in his pomp under Pochettino at Tottenham Hotspur.
The Englishman's best season, at least in terms of output, came back in the 2016/17 campaign, when he scored a mind-boggling 18 goals from an attacking midfield or second striker position and provided nine assists along the way.
Comparatively, Dybala found most of his success for Roma last season from a second-striker position, scoring 12 goals and providing seven assists in just 25 Serie A appearances.
The Argentinian "wizard", as described by Nigerian journalist Buchi Laba, has been a lethal attacker ever since he made his way to Italy.
Club
Palermo
Juventus
AS Roma
Games
61
210
38
Goals
16
82
17
Assists
10
41
13
Titles
0
5
0
All Stats via Transfermarkt
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In 309 Serie A appearances, he has scored 115 goals and provided 64 assists, meaning he has averaged a goal involvement every 1.7 league games.
It isn't just the number of goals that the former Juve star scores, but the quality of them, as just like Dele, he has scored his fair share of wonder goals, leading to football writer Raj Chohan declaring that he has "joke levels of footballing talent."
Ultimately, Chelsea are in need of some serious footballing magic if they are to turn their season around anytime soon, and while Dybala might not be quite at the height of his powers anymore, he would surely add that extra spark to the Blues' midfield.
