Oscar's Commitment to Chelsea Despite PSG Interest Bodes Well for 2014-15 Season

Oscar briefly turned his attention away from being the highest-rated player for the Brazil national team, per WhoScored.com, to address an issue that has been rumbling on since March. He told L’Equipe (h/t Ewan Roberts of Goal.com): “I had contacts with PSG, that is true, but it did not go any further, and next season, I will stay at Chelsea.”

Having already spent £48 million on David Luiz, per The Telegraph, chances are that the Parisians could not afford the £300 million price tag that Jose Mourinho had slapped on Oscar and Eden Hazard a few months ago, via Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail. Still, with such ludicrous sums of money being bandied around and Chelsea’s newfound status as a club in search of a profit, there were some concerns.

Now that they have been dealt with, Chelsea fans can focus on what a midfield of Oscar, Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic will mean for the Blues’ 2014-15 season.

Created using Microsoft PowerPoint.

Although Mourinho has said in the past that he wants to build with Oscar as his No. 10, per Matt McGeehan of The Independent, there is a good chance that he has viewed the midfielder’s all-round contribution for Brazil as something that could transfer to Chelsea.

The 4-2-3-1 will likely make way for a more traditional 4-3-3, with Oscar and Fabregas playing slightly in front of Matic.

While the striker situation still needs to be resolved this summer, Oscar’s decision to stay at Stamford Bridge will make the midfield even stronger for next season. His often-overlooked defensive work would be much more useful in a deeper midfield position, especially when he combines with Fabregas.

Despite the age gap, both players have a similar ability to make an impact in any area of the pitch. Although Fabregas is not the best tackler in the world, Oscar can cover him in that department while the Spaniard concentrates on holding the ball up.

With Matic backing them up in the midfield destroyer role, this trio across the midfield should provide performances like the one that ended Manchester City’s unbeaten run at the Etihad on a weekly basis. As useful as another wad of cash would have been to helping the Blues balance the books, retaining Oscar will prove crucial to their trophy challenges next season.