Chelsea seem to have their defense secured as Emerson Palmieri agreed to move to Stamford Bridge. The 23-year-old was subject of a £24m deal that will keep him in London for the next 4 and a half years. The promising defender’s future might hold a change in position though if Conte does intend to use him as a team regular.
Currently Emerson has played as a left-back and it is hard to believe he will nudge Alonso onto the bench. The only plausible scenario would be to see Emerson on the right. Playing him as a center-back is not a solution as he is 1,77m tall and not strong enough to handle players like Lukaku or Kane.
The Brazilian born Italian international is kind of a strange signing to be honest. He is the kind of transfer fans should not blindly trust as there is not much right now to point towards a solid reason for him to get a deal with the Blues. He had a cruciate ligament rupture that kept him out for almost 160 days and dealt with 3 others starting April 2015. That is a lot for a 23-year-old especially considering his position and the country he is playing in. Italy might be rough but it`s sort of rare to see left-backs suffer the injuries that he suffered, at such a young age, in such a short time span.
So why should anyone place their trust in Emerson? Well, for two reasons:one is that it is highly improbable that under Conte the club would make a mistake signing a player from Serie A and the other is that Emerson is very highly rated by Roma fans who are not easy on their players. With some encouragement and proper medical care, Emerson could become a very strong competitor for Moses whose offensive appetite makes him forget about the defense at times.
The overall impression on Twitter about the Emerson signing was that he will be welcomed at Stamford Bridge:
Good signing for Chelsea.
— Fat Totti (@Fat_Totti) January 30, 2018
https://twitter.com/LukeCFC1905/status/958456450468270090
Italian international. Fast. Skilful.
— Roberto (@rbscib) January 31, 2018