Chelsea's Antonio Conte Eyeing Tottenham's Ben Davies
Tottenham’s Ben Davies is attracting attention from Chelsea manager Antonio Conte.
According to Peter O’Rourke of ESPN FC Chelsea are contemplating a move for Tottenham left-back Ben Davies during the January transfer window.
Sources close to Chelsea have said that the 23-year-old Welshman was a target during the summer even though there were no rumors that surfaced.
The Blues upgraded their defense, signing David Luiz and Marcos Alonso, so they shouldn’t be interested in Davies.
But, with Conte’s defense getting cut open by Arsenal on Saturday — plus Ben Davies’ performances in the Euros with Wales — it’s not surprising that Chelsea is looking at a potential move this winter for Spurs’ second-choice left-back.
Except, there are a couple of reasons why this transfer rumor will remain a rumor.
One, with Danny Rose still sidelined with a hamstring injury, Mauricio Pochettino will be reluctant to sell a left-back who starts a handful of games with the full-back position being rotated quite frequently when Tottenham try to compete in all fronts.
Second — and this is to expound on the first point — since Spurs signed Ben Davies from Swansea City, the Welsh defender has made 29 and 27 appearances in all competitions the past two seasons.
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Those numbers might not seem all that high, but making sub-30 appearances helps lighten the load for Danny Rose from being overworked.
Last term, Rose only featured twice in the Europa League. The rest of the time, he was afforded rest with Davies taking over at left-back.
When it came to the Premier League last year, Ben Davies started 14 games, which is nearly half of them.
So while Davies is considered Spurs’ “second-choice left-back”, that’s in name only.
In Pochettino’s team, with the amount of rotation that happens at the full-back position, Spurs have four starters at full-back as opposed to just two.
Of course, with the amount of playing time that Ben Davies has been getting since joining Tottenham and his performance this past summer at the Euros in France, perhaps this is why Antonio Conte is interested in the first place.
Seeing Wales reach the semi-finals with a 3-5-2 formation, and Davies playing on the left side, is something that Conte will want to implement with the West London club eventually — if he hasn’t already.
The Italian manager has had great success running a 3-5-2 system while coaching Juventus and the Italian national team. And Ben Davies is a target that Conte feels (per Peter O’Rourke) will be a good fit to help run this formation to perfection. Or at least close enough.
It’s too bad that Spurs aren’t going to consider this option at all. There’s no reason to sell Davies even if Danny Rose is Pochettino’s starter at left-back.
And the fact that Chelsea is the intended recipient, makes this move even more unlikely to happen.