Ever since Eden Hazard left Chelsea Football Club, the Blues have struggled to find the perfect replacement for him. The Belgian was incredibly unique and no Chelsea player has truly managed to fill his boots when factoring in the way he played and the goals and assist numbers he put up.
Of course, since joining the club last summer, Cole Palmer has been a revelation, exceeding all expectations and becoming one of the best wingers in the Premier League. He scored 22 goals and registered 11 assists in just 34 top-flight games last term, and yet he did not feel like the replacement for the legendary Belgian, given their profiles are nothing alike.
The likes of Raheem Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk have also joined the club since Hazard’s departure, a pair much more similar to the former Chelsea winger’s profile. However, they have never really found their feet at Stamford Bridge, with Sterling so far scoring just 19 times in 81 games in blue, and Mudryk 7 times in 58 games.
It is undoubtedly frustrating that the Blues have never managed to find a replacement for one of the Premier League’s best wingers. However, they have recently been linked with one man who could finally become the Hazard replacement Chelsea have been crying out for.
Chelsea target Premier League winger
The player in question is Brighton & Hove Albion’s Japanese winger, Kaoru Mitoma. The 27-year-old had a tough time on the pitch in 2023/24, although he has proven his quality in the top flight plenty of times, and he has now been linked with a move away.
Interest in the winger from Chelsea was confirmed by journalist Ben Jacobs while in conversation with the London Is Blue podcast. Jacobs simply said “I’m told that Kaoru Mitoma is liked,” referring to the Blues' interest in the Seagulls attacker.
Chelsea’s interest in adding a new wide player to their squad has been clear throughout the summer transfer window. The Blues wanted to sign former academy player Michael Olise from Crystal Palace. However, The Athletic confirmed they pulled out of the deal due to financial implications, with other clubs bettering their offer.
Thus, they have seemingly switched their attention to Mitoma, and appear to be the only side interested in signing him at this stage, unlike the deal for Olise. Whilst a price has not been made clear, Football Transfers values him at £17.9m, although it could take more money to tempt Brighton into a sale. Indeed, Mitoma’s contract does not expire until 2027.
Why Mitoma can be the Hazard replacement
Mitoma’s 2023/24 campaign was slightly disappointing given his obvious quality. Firstly, injuries hampered his season, with a back injury meaning the winger hasn't featured since 18th February.
However, the Japan international did feature 19 times under Roberto De Zerbi, who is now the manager of French giants Marseille after leaving Brighton at the end of the season. In those 19 games, he scored three goals and registered four assists, still pretty respectable numbers.
With that being said, Mitoma did not really hit the heights he did in his debut campaign two seasons ago. In 33 games, he scored seven times and registered six assists, only beaten on combined goal involvements by Pascal Gross with 17 and Solly March with 14, as per Sofascore. De Zerbi described him as Brighton's "top player" when his contract extension was announced in October.
Given those numbers, it may seem surprising that the man touted to replace Hazard at Stamford Bridge is a winger with just 10 goals and 10 assists in his Premier League career. The former Belgium captain notched 85 goals and 54 assists in 245 games in the top flight of English football.
However, when you think of the Belgian, the first thing that may come to mind is his electric dribbling ability. Think how easily he would glide past opponents by using his low centre of gravity and his impressive strength to ride challenges from oncoming defenders.
Few players in the Premier League’s history are better dribblers than the Belgian. In fact, as per Statsmuse, the winger completed the most dribbles in the 2017/18 season with 118, and in the 2018/19 season with 139. He was simply electric.
With that in mind, there is perhaps no one better to replace Hazard than a man with a PhD in dribbling. Like the former Chelsea number seven, Mitoma possesses a bag of tricks, and the ability to burst away from defenders with a quick change of direction and accelerate off into space. The pair are also both two-way wingers, confident of going on the inside of a defender and driving towards the box, or the outside by taking it to the touchline and looking for a cross.
Indeed, Mitoma’s dribbling ability is also reflected in his stats. During the 2022/23 season, his only uninterrupted campaign in the top flight, the Japan international averaged 5.55 progressive carries per 90 minutes, which ranked him in the top 4% of wingers. That season, Mitoma also averaged 3.3 carries into the penalty area each game, which placed him in the top 3%.
Stat (per 90)
Number
Percentile
Progressive carries
5.55
96th
Carries into final third
3.18
92nd
Carries into penalty box
3.30
97th
Take-ons attempted
5.05
85th
Take-ons completed
2.29
90th
Whilst Mitoma does not quite have the same number of goal involvements as the legendary Hazard, he could still become the direct replacement for the winger. They are stylistically very similar; excellent ball-carriers who are direct and run at opponents one-on-one, with superb close control and lightning-quick acceleration.
Replacing a player like Hazard is not easy in the slightest, as Chelsea have proven in the last few seasons. Even though Mitoma’s goal involvement numbers do not touch the record of the former Blues winger, who knows how much he could explode under Enzo Maresca? It could finally be the signing that sees Chelsea replace Hazard and the catalyst for the Blues to climb back to the top of English football.