Chelsea Transfer News: Lucas Silva Would Provide Balance to Blues Midfield

Chelsea may be the last team in the Premier League that comes to mind when one thinks of mid-season acquisitions.The Blues currently sit atop the table with seven wins and one draw through eight EPL games and have the highest goal differential at plus-15.

Still, manager Jose Mourinho's never-ending pursuit of perfection has Chelsea linked to Cruzeiro's Lucas Silva, a Brazilian starlet that could shore up the spine of Chelsea's midfield and provide a dependable outlet for the vast array of attacking midfield talent.

Jamie Anderson of the Express reports that according to Spanish sources, Chelsea could be keen to prevent a potential Silva-to-Real-Madrid move by offering the young defensive midfielder a contract as early as the January transfer window.

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Silva has a 88.1 percent successful pass rate in league play this season. He's also averaging 2.1 tackles per game and doesn't appear to require much time on the ball, averaging just 0.3 successful dribbles per contest. He's no goalscorer, with just three goals in league play thus far in his career, but Chelsea don't need another ballhawking attacker with the likes of Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and Oscar in the fold.

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Hazard, especially, requires plenty of time on the ball and is averaging 5.1 successful dribbles per game. Oscar and Cesc Fabregas provide plenty of final-third support-work with 4.6 key passes per contest combined.

Silva could control the pace and the flow of the game with his ability to make quick decisions and play simple, accurate passes. Cruizero teammate Julio Baptista lauded his game when suggesting Real Madrid should sign the budding star.

"It would be a wise move," Baptista told J.I. Garcia-Ochoa of Marca. "The first day I saw him I knew he was a player that would turn heads and I told him so. He's a two touch player, a quality that would fit right in in Spain or the Premier League. In Brazil, players hog the ball, but Lucas plays it quickly." 

Chelsea already have a top-shelf holding midfielder in Nemanja Matic, but Silva could provide fluidity and perhaps work early on if the situation calls for Chelsea to utilize two defensive-minded mids. Mourinho has experimented with central midfield in the past, even placing erstwhile defender David Luiz in that role on occasion.

Silva might also fit in well with a Chelsea squad that features a host of Brazilian talent in Ramires, Oscar and Willian. The comfort of senior Selecao players could help the young man develop under a demanding manager such as Mourinho. 

Should the Blues manage to snatch up Silva, they could very well put him on an immediate loan so as not to upset the current streak of excellent results the team is enjoying with the players already at hand. The 21-year-old only started playing for the Cruzeiro first team in 2012 and would need time to adjust to the level of training and in-house competition one encounters at a top European club.

It's abundantly clear that even with Chelsea's embarrassment of riches, the sheer number of midfielders out on loan—including Victor Moses, Marko Marin and Oriol Romeu, among others—suggests that Mourinho is still trying to find the right combination of players to mold in his own image.

That being said, Silva made regular first-team appearances for a Cruzeiro side that won the Serie A championship in Brazil in 2013. He's the type of player that Chelsea can develop to support the midfield talent at hand and protect the backline.

Real Madrid may still end up with the young Brazilian, but Silva looks to be a strong addition to any European club looking to harbor and develop emerging talent.

All stats courtesy of WhoScored.com.