Transfer News: Lazio are interested in Chelsea defender Emerson Palmieri
According to the Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t football.london), Lazio are said to be interested in signing Emerson Palmieri from Chelsea. The defender is said to be top of Maurizio Sarri’s wish list.
Emerson, who joined Chelsea from AS Roma in 2018 for £17.6 million, was bought in to compete with Marcos Alonso. Getting off to a good start, his consistency dipped and he became mainly a substitute. Three years later after having fallen down the pecking order, he went out on loan to Lyon where he spent the last season.
Now, it seems he maybe on his way out. Should he leave, he would be reunited with former Chelsea coach Sarri under whom he played for one year. Sarri is said to be keen on reuniting with the player who is not so preferred by current coach Thomas Tuchel.
The Italian international was a regular for Lyon last season as he made 29 league appearances for them, scoring one and assisting two in the process. The player failed to replace Alonso as the main left-back and with the arrival of Ben Chilwell he has fallen down further in the pecking order.
Chilwell is expected to be the main left-back next season given that Alonso is considering a move away from Stamford Bridge. The only left-back left in the team is Abdul-Rahman Baba who also spent the last season on loan at Reading.
He is very unlikely to be a part of the squad for next season, given that he has not been included in the pre-season squad for Chelsea. Given Chilwell’s injury history last season, a back-up will be needed for him and Tuchel will be aware of such.
It would be smart to keep Emerson for another season at the Bridge if the Blues fail to get in a new back-up. This could be the Italian’s chance to impress Tuchel and become a regular player.
The 27-year-old is currently in the United States for pre-season. This is the perfect opportunity for Emerson to showcase his potential to Tuchel and have the coach reconsider his stance for him. Emerson is arguably in his prime years and his time at the Bridge isn’t necessarily over.
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For now, Emerson is a Blue and whether he will remain so at the start of the new season remains to be seen. He would love to represent Italy at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and would know regular playing time at the club level is important for that.