Everything Chelsea fans need to know about Eliaquim Mangala – Scouting Report (Video)
There aren’t many countries that can rival the French in terms of young talent at the moment with players such as Paul Pogba, Raphael Varane and Clement Grenier making headlines at some of Europe’s top clubs. Another one on the list is FC Porto’s Eliaquim Mangala who has been linked with moves to Chelsea and FC Barcelona amongst others.
Mangala was signed by Porto for £5.5million from Standard Liege in 2011 and he could very well be the latest player the Portuguese club make a huge profit on with figures of anywhere between £20million and his £30million release clause being rumoured to have been offered. The Frenchman has become one of the hottest properties in Europe after a season where he was a key figure in Porto’s unbeaten title-winning squad.
He has a dominant physique with unusually good athletic ability for a centre-back, so you can see why Chelsea and Barcelona are interested. Barca feel he could be the ball-playing defender they are looking for and his versatility which has seen him play at left-back and holding midfielder in the past could be vital to the Catalans. If he was to join Chelsea, you would be worried about him getting regular football with the likes of Terry, Ivanovic, Cahill and Luiz around.
On his day, Mangala is one of the best young talents in Europe. He is very good in the air and his positional sense is of high-class for one so young. But he is prone to a Titus Bramble-like error at times which would have to be ironed out if he were to join one of Europe’s elite leagues. Mangala does show brilliant technical ability especially when you consider his position, as shown in the clip below.
Mangala would be a great signing for either Chelsea or Barcelona, but a move to Camp Nou might be favourable to him considering the competition he would face at Stamford Bridge. It’s obvious that he will be one of the best centre-backs in Europe in the future and whoever signs him will have done a great bit of business.
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