Various media outlets and papers have confirmed that Bertrand Traore has been granted a work-permit. The wonderkid has appeared in more than 75 percent of his country’s international fixtures in the past two years, with Burkina Faso being ranked the 66th best nation in the world. Bursting onto the scene as an unknown trialist at the age of 17 during Chelsea’s pre-season tour, Jose Mourinho was quoted by the Telegraph saying,
“Traoré we would like to keep,” he said. “Those are the rules in England and we have to accept them. We’ll have to wait until he becomes 18 to try to get the permit for him to stay in England. If it’s not possible we have to let him go on loan somewhere.
“For a 17-year-old boy, sooner or later, the committee has to give him a permit to play in England. If he’s playing for his country at the same time – one of the most important countries in African football – he’ll get his deserved permit. So no dramas with it. It’s fantastic for him to come here and play well for Chelsea.”
After watching the videos above, you wouldn’t think he was only 17 and on trial. I’ve never seen someone play with such confidence and swagger at such a young age, controlling the game, looking like one of the senior players. However, unable to get a work-permit, Traore was shipped off to the Eredivisie to play for Chelsea’s affiliate Vitesse Arnhem. His first season was a learning period, where he only manages seven starts, with eight appearances coming from the bench – though huge progress was made as he spent a second season with the Dutch side, starting 32 games, scoring 17 goals and creating 5 assists.
In comparison, Memphis Depay finished the season with 36 appearances, 26 goals and 5 assists. At 21 years of age, Depay is two years older than Traore with more experience. With Depay recently sealing a move to Manchester United for around the £25m mark, if Traore wasn’t a Chelsea player, he’d be wanted for a fee between £15-20m. With Chelsea already owning the Burkinabe forward, the general consensus is that he will return to his parent club for pre-season and be vying for a place in the Chelsea team for the upcoming season.
Now this is where it becomes interesting, as everybody is still unsure of where Chelsea will be looking to utilize him. Initial thoughts were that he would go out on loan, hone his skills and return as an established right winger, yet Vitesse used him as a centre forward during a shortage of strikers and he made the position his own. His statistics shot up and it was clear to see he looked a much better player in this position. This is where a whole host of people are currently seeing his future, although I disagree.
As you can see in the picture above, WhoScored define these as his strongest characteristics. In comparison, below are what WhoScored rate Isco’s strongest attributes.
Now below Mario Gotze’s..
Very similar right? This is my point: I believe Bertrand Traore would the perfect fit in the Chelsea squad as a central attacking midfielder. He could inter-change with Hazard on the left and also Willian on the right. Standing at 5-foot-10-inches, he’s tall enough to win his fair share of aerial duals, as seen below, Traore and Isco are way ahead of Gotze and Ozil.
If Chelsea were to utilize him as a central attacking midfielder, using him as a second striker, his experience as a striker this season will have given him a better physical presence that maybe Oscar doesn’t have. When Diego Costa comes deep, Traore would be better equipped than Oscar to fill the striker slot, with his pace enabling him to hang off the shoulder of the last man.
With Oscar being inconsistent in form and also being linked with a move away, Traore would provide a great option in that position. His versatility to play as a striker and a winger would also be crucial. If Jose Mourinho could instill the defensive contribution he expects from his players into Bertrand Traore, he’d definitely have the making of a world class attacking midfielder.
Quoted by the DailyMail, Vitesse manager Peter Bosz said “Jose Mourinho is crazy about him, If the opportunity is there, they prefer to take him back.”
With a work-permit now granted, we will have to see how pre-season plays out and where the boss sees his future.
