Chelsea consider swapping elite midfielders who ended up in the wrong leagues for their style

With Toni Kroos retired and Luka Modric almost 40, Real Madrid’s need for a midfield orchestrator is growing, and it might just save Chelsea.

The Blues spent more than £115m on one of the young stars of World Cup 2022 in the form of Enzo Fernandez, but the move hasn’t really worked out for either party. His game doesn’t suit the Premier League particularly well – he’s constantly being out fought and out run in the middle of the pitch by far inferior players.

He’s excellent at some things, but is really a luxury player who would thrive in a team that dominates the ball, but struggles in looking at his best in the high tempo English top flight,

That’s why Real Madrid are being linked to him – it’s easy to see him living up to his price tag for Los Blancos, and much harder to see him thriving here. The Sun’s story today that the two clubs could conduct some sort of swap deal is far fetched, but it’s not the first time we’ve heard about the concept.

Two players ended up in the wrong leagues could help each other out

While Enzo isn’t a good fit for the Premier League, Madrid have a problem of their own in Aurelian Tchouameni. He’s ended up playing mainly at centre back for the Spanish side this year thanks to injuries, and even when he does play, there’s a sense that his game is probably better suited to the English game than the Spanish, in a reverse of the Enzo situation.

The idea of a swap, then, does seem good for both parties. But the amounts of money involved would be so massive that it’s hard to imagine how they would make it all work.

In the summer, we may hear more about this…