Tiemoue Bakayoko or Nemanja Matic: Do Chelsea Fans Think Bakayoko Is an Upgrade?

Chelsea's summer transfer window is beginning to gather momentum. After the signing of Roma defender Antonio Rudiger, last week the Blues announced Tiemoue Bakayoko as their latest squad addition.

The midfielder's arrival is perfectly timed as Chelsea have already seen their strength in depth diluted this summer with the recent departure of Nathaniel Chalobah to Watford. According to reports (per The Sun), Nemanja Matic's Stamford Bridge future is also being questioned. Outside of Bakayoko, that leaves Antonio Conte with just Cesc Fabregas and N'Golo Kante as recognised central midfielders.

While Chalobah was a squad player, it's Matic who will be feeling most under threat—and he would have been sensing that pressure even if Chalobah had remained in west London. As a regular, Bakayoko's arrival sparks debate as to where these moves leave the Serb, especially as Bakayoko and Matic play similar roles in the middle.

Should Matic remain at the club to provide strength over the course of the season? Does he deserve to be starting? Is he even needed now that Bakayoko has joined? And if not, is Bakayoko an upgrade on the man he is deemed to be replacing?

We took to social media to gauge the opinions of Chelsea fans.

What the polls are saying

Chelsea fans are split on the Bakayoko-Matic debate. On one hand, supporters are happy to see a new face added to the squad—and not just any new face but that of a player who earned a strong reputation on the back of his exploits with Monaco in the Champions League last season.

Yet, given how threadbare Chelsea's squad looked in 2016/17, there's also an acknowledgement that Bakayoko and Matic could co-exist at Stamford Bridge. The Blues need numbers as much as they need talent, so reading between the lines on our Twitter poll, it's an area for concern.

Close to half of Chelsea supporters want to see Bakayoko and Matic rotated. It's clear that fans are considering the added strain of Champions League football on the current squad, recognising that more games in 2017/18 demands more players for Conte to choose from.

Still, with a third of supporters voting to state they see Bakayoko as being more talented than Matic, Chelsea fans are suggesting Matic should get used to warming the bench if he remains in west London.

What the fans are saying

After polling Chelsea fans on Twitter, we asked for their comments on the Bakayoko-Matic debate. Here are some of the best replies:

"

Baka is an upgrade but Matic would still play a lot as we are in 4 competitions. The only backup we would have is Cesc.

— CFC News&Views (@CFC_Views) July 17, 2017"

"

Baka is an upgrade but Matic would still play a lot as we are in 4 competitions. The only backup we would have is Cesc.

— CFC News&Views (@CFC_Views) July 17, 2017"

Does Bakayoko mean more Chelsea youth players will be promoted?

So here's the contradiction: Despite what Bakayoko's arrival means for Matic, Chelsea's capture of the Frenchman did put the final nail in the coffin of Chalobah's Blues career.

The youngster joined Watford in order to play more regularly, knowing that with an extra big-money signing to compete against, he was facing another season of cameo appearances. Meanwhile, Chelsea fans made their dissatisfaction with Chalobah's departure clear.

But now that the dust has settled, some are suggesting Bakayoko may well have a positive influence on the other academy products coming through, namely Lewis Baker, who has been on loan for the past couple of seasons with Vitesse Arnhem.

Now, Baker isn't a central midfielder in the same mould as Bakayoko. He's more of an Eden Hazard-Cesc Fabregas hybrid, offering a little bit of something those two do. Where he fits in under Conte right now remains to be seen (he has travelled to the Far East for pre-season), although supporters are hopeful he will be given a chance to shine in a central position.

With Bakayoko and Kante, Chelsea have two combative midfielders who offer different qualities. Yet, while we see them as starting together, Bakayoko's presence means Conte has options he perhaps didn't with Matic—such as creating combinations we haven't seen before.

Those might include Kante and Fabregas together or Bakayoko and Fabregas. Then there's the option of Baker to deputise for Fabregas in those scenarios.

We'll see in the coming weeks what happens, but judging by their comments, Chelsea fans are excited nonetheless.