Chelsea heading for Salah repeat with £30m ace

Chelsea continued their push for the Premier League title with a 2-1 victory over Brentford at Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening.

Goals from Marc Cucurella and Nicolas Jackson ensured that Chelsea moved to within two points of leaders Liverpool and gave the Blues a fifth consecutive league victory.

Chelsea dominated the game in all departments, playing with real fluidity and created 26 goal attempts with eight of those testing Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

Full-back Cucurella impressed in the match, getting on the scoresheet himself and being a constant threat down the hosts’ left-hand side despite a late sending-off.

However, it is the full-back on the right-hand side of Chelsea’s defence that is attracting interest from fellow title rivals.

Chelsea star catching the eye of Liverpool

Malo Gusto arrived at Chelsea from Lyon in January 2023 for a reported £30.75m deal. The French defender has impressed since his arrival and has already made 13 appearances for the club this season, registering an assist in Chelsea’s 5-1 rout of Southampton earlier in December.

This fine early-season form from Gusto has attracted interest from a number of top clubs and it seems that one title rival in particular are ready to firm up their interest in January.

According to CaughtOffside, Liverpool are considering a raid of the full-back to replace the potentially outgoing Trent Alexander-Arnold. England full-back Alexander-Arnold is out of contract in the summer and is being linked with a move to European giants Real Madrid and Premier League champions Manchester City.

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For now, it seems that Chelsea have no interest in selling Gusto, who has proved himself to be a fine young talent at Enzo Maresca’s disposal, but that may not deter Liverpool from testing the waters in the upcoming window.

Losing Gusto would come as a huge blow to Chelsea’s title hopes as they would be losing a regular first-team defender to the team they are chasing and sit just two points behind.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t end up being a Mo Salah repeat, with the Egyptian leaving Stamford Bridge behind after just 19 first-team games before going on to score 227 times in the red of Liverpool.

Why losing Malo Gusto would be a mistake for Chelsea

Should Chelsea lose Gusto to Liverpool, it wouldn’t be the first time they have regretted losing a player to Liverpool, with Salah, currently the Premier League top scorer, also plying his trade at Stamford Bridge once upon a time.

Another reason Chelsea fans will be hoping the transfer doesn’t formulate is the injury record of potential Gusto replacement Reece James. James is the club captain of Chelsea but has suffered terribly with fitness throughout his career.

Incredibly, since the start of the 23/24 season, James has missed 56 games for Chelsea through injury and is currently out of action with a hamstring injury.

Reece James injury history: Every game missed by Chelsea star since 2021/22

The defender has endured a torrid few seasons at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea fans used to dread news of their captain picking up injuries as he was an important player for the club yet since Gusto’s arrival he has more than become an adequate replacement.

Malo Gusto v Reece James in 2024/25
Stat (per 90)	Gusto	James
Minutes played	956	241
Progressive passes	5.47	2.96
Tackles won	19	2
Blocks	18	4
Crosses	30	15
Points per match	1.92	1.25
Stats via FBref

From the above statistics, it is clear that not only is the French defender more reliable in terms of fitness than James but also gives more going forward and in defence. Gusto has registered more progressive passes than his captain this season and has fed more crosses to Chelsea’s potent strikeforce.

A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.

Defensively, Gusto is also outperforming his positional rival with more tackles won and more blocks in defensive situations. The most significant stat for Chelsea staff and fans may be the bottom stat that Chelsea are picking up more points with Gusto in the team than James.

If the west London side are serious about their title tilt this season, then they can ill afford to lose a talent like this – especially to their main title rivals.