Yet another player linked with a summer move to the Premier League champions, Aranguiz is known for his play making abilities and high levels of work rate which see him drive from defence to attack in a short number of passes. It’s not a surprise that Chelsea are being linked with a central midfielder, with back-up to both Fabregas and Matic needed, especially if John Obi Mikel does finally leave the club.
According to Ed Maylon in the Mirror, Arsenal and Marseille have been monitoring the Chilean midfielder for over a year now but Chelsea have jumped ahead of them as front runners to secure his signature in the last few weeks. His agent has suggested he would prefer a move to the Premier League, but despite his relationship with Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, Chelsea are prepared to outbid Arsenal in both fee and wages.
Born in a football-mad family where Aranguiz’s mother is a football coach back in Chile, he was always going to go into football. Despite this, Aranguiz has been a late bloomer in terms of world football. Breaking into the starting line-up of his first club Cobreloa in Chile aged just 18, his reputation began to grow in his home country. After notching up nearly 100 appearances for his local side, it wasn’t long until the larger sides in Chile were sniffing around the youngster. It was Colo Colo who completed his signing still at 21 years old and he became a regular in the one season he spent there, winning his first major trophy in the Clausura Championship.
This semi-successful spell in Chile attracted attention from across South America and it was Argentinian side Quilmes who managed to prize the young midfielder from his home country. It didn’t really work out too well for Aranguiz in Argentina where he only spent the 2010 calendar year there before returning to Chile. Possibly the most controversy he’s caused in his career to date as he returned to Chile to play for Universidad de Chile, Colo Colo’s divisional rivals. It was here however that he would go on to have his most successful spell at a club as Universidad de Chile went on to win 5 major honours with Aranguiz the focal point of their midfield. This included the Copa Sudamericana, the South American equivalent of the Europa League in 2011. He also led his team to the Copa Chile two years later, before leaving for pastures new in 2014.
In one of the most confusing transfers I’ve ever seen, the Pozzo family, who also own Watford and Udinese, purchased half of Aranguiz’s rights so that he could play for Granada. He was immediately sent on loan back to South America, this time to Brazil with Internacional and just six months later, without even training with Granada, he was sold permanently to Internacional after a Brazilian supermarket tycoon bought 70% of his rights. He helped Internacional win yet another Campeonato Gaucho where he was their key player.
The rise in his club career has been matched by his international career. Making his debut back in 2010 for the Chilean national team having come through all the age groups, Aranguiz has now made 36 appearances for his country, including last summer’s World Cup in Brazil and this summer’s Copa America which Chile went onto win on home soil. It was in the World Cup where he really became known amongst supporters across Europe, as he outshone Arturo Vidal in Chile’s midfield. Scoring against Spain in one of Chile’s better performances shows he is a goal scoring midfielder, something that Chelsea have lacked since Frank Lampard left last summer.
Despite Aranguiz’s career to date, he has been a late bloomer onto the scene. Now already 26 years old, he’s coming into his peak but would be a risk having only ever played in South America. His performances at both the World Cup and Copa America do suggest he could do well in Europe, it’s still a risk.
It’s obviously a little unfair to compare Aranguiz with Vidal due to the magnitude of the two leagues they have been playing in, through the use of Squawka’s comparison tool, the stats do still make for interesting reading. They suggest that Aranguiz (red) was more creative in his play last season compared to Vidal (blue). One is looking at a fee of around £10 million and the other about 3x that amount.
I think as back-up to Cesc Fabregas, Aranguiz would slip into Chelsea’s side really well. He’s a hard-working player, something that Mourinho would demand from anyone in his midfield and he clearly has the ability to create chances, all-be-it not on the same level as Fabregas, he still could have a big part to play if Chelsea are looking, not just to retain the Premier League, but to push on in Europe as well.
Overall, for the price being spoken about of around £10 million, I think Chelsea would be stupid not to at least follow up this interest in the midfielder with a serious bid. We’ve been crying out for squad depth all summer, and Aranguiz comes in the perfect shape for just that.
