Chelsea Flop Franco Di Santo Turning Heads at Werder Bremen

Franco Di Santo was a £3.4 million Chelsea gamble which went down the drain, but has he turned his career around with Bundesliga club Werder Bremen?

"To be in clothes, changing next to [Didier] Drogba will be something out of another world," Di Santo said in 2008, per Ole (h/t Nick Dorrington at Goal). "I am going to help him tie his laces."

From standing next to Drogba in the dressing room, Di Santo was right behind Chelsea's star striker when the Ivorian provided an unfiltered reaction to referee Tom Henning Ovrebo.

How would you describe Di Santo?

And like that... he's gone, which also is an apt description of his Chelsea career. 

Sixteen substitute appearances were enough for Chelsea management to put Di Santo on the market. He eventually signed for Wigan Athletic.

Why were Chelsea interested in Di Santo in the first-place? 

Then-Chelsea sporting director Frank Arnesen pragmatically pursued teenagers with senior football experience and imported them into the Blues reserve/youth teams. 

Di Santo was the perfect storm for Arnesen: 

• The Argentine youth international was already a contributor for Chilean Primera Division team Audax Italiano.
• He had double-digit goals as an 18-year-old, therefore the only way was up. 
• Possessed physical upside at 6'4", so with the right training program Chelsea could build him into a dominant target man. 
• There were no work permit problems because he held an Italian passport, per Patricio Figueroa at Sky Sports.

South American football correspondent Tim Vickery foretold Di Santo's Premier League failure, per BBC Sport:

"

The wonderkid thing is exaggerated [as] Argentina left him [Di Santo] out of their squad for the recent World Youth Cup.

...

[He] reminds me of the young Roque Santa Cruz: same type of build, aerial threat but can be very neat on the ground.

... 

As far as the Premiership goes, way too early. He'd get snapped in half if he tried it now.

"

Club	Goals	Games	Shots Per Goal	Goals Per Game
Blackburn Rovers	1	22	22	0.05
Wigan Athletic	13	92	12.54	0.14

Werder signed Di Santo on a free transfer when his contract expired at Wigan, even though he has not reached double-digits in goals since he was an 18-year-old for Audax. 

One reason to sign Di Santo could have been Werder looking back at how they unlocked Ailton Goncalves' previously untapped potential.

Ailton arrived at Werder with a CV including clubs such as Tigres UANL, Guarani and Santa Cruz.

He went on to win the league-cup double at Werder, lead the Bundesliga in scoring (2003-04 season) and was the 2004 German footballer of the year. 

Ailton was recently given a testimonial by Werder.

Nation	Position	Age	Height	Weight
Argentina	CF	25	6'4"	194 lbs

The key to Werder's blind faith in starting Di Santo, a two-footed player, in 91.3 percent of Bundesliga games he was involved in (21/23) last season is his potential to develop into a complete centre-forward. 

Gashing the Hoffenheim defence, Di Santo accelerated away from centre-back Niklas Sule and squared the ball to Werder centre-forward Nils Petersen.

Shielding the ball from Bayern Munich centre-back Dante, Di Santo completed a Mesut Ozil-esque lofted through-ball to play in then-Werder (now Wolfsburg) central attacking midfielder Aaron Hunt.

Against Hertha Berlin, Di Santo scooped the ball into the path of Hunt.

These are passes you see from a No. 10, not a No. 9, who conspicuously struggled to prove he was Premier League-quality.

Di Santo momentarily switched bodies with Diego Costa in a play against Nurnberg.

Angling in from the left flank, Di Santo ran at the Nurnberg defence, shrugged off a challenge, and launched a shot which cannoned off the cross-bar. 

There are comparable traits Di Santo shares with Costa, per GuillemBalague.com:

"

Balague (Spanish football writer): Would you describe yourself as a modern centre-forward who can play in various positions?

Costa (then-Atleti, now Chelsea centre-forward): I don't really like playing as an out and out centre-forward.

I like getting the ball in wide areas and being in possession all the time.

If I'm not seeing enough of the ball I get quite agitated which is why I come looking for it and naturally drop out wide.

I don't know how you would describe me exactly.

"

Di Santo's impeccable control and finish against Hannover 96 is an example of why he was afforded chance after chance by then-Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez.

"The level he [Di Santo] showed at the end of last season and this season shows you that he has signs of getting there very quickly," Martinez said, per Sky Sports. "I believe his potential is huge, he can be as good as he wants to be."

Di Santo is showing huge potential, albeit for Werder.

He finished last season with three assists in four league games. 

This season, Di Santo is looking over his shoulder knowing a dry spell could see him being replaced by Werder's promising 19-year-old centre-forward Davie Selke.

The teenager's presence has pushed Di Santo to produce. 

Credit: Werder.de

Di Santo poached a goal against Hertha and his incisive passing against Hoffenheim was an exhibition.

From the left flank against Hoffenheim, Di Santo floated in a cross to Werder central midfielder Alejandro Galvez.

Di Santo bettered that pass by dropping deep and splitting open Hoffenheim's defence with a Cesc Fabregas-like through-ball to Werder substitute Fin Bartels. 

"The No. 9 [shirt] really means something," Di Santo said, per Werder's official website. "My role model is Hernan Crespo. His style of play really inspired me."

Ian Walton/Getty Images

Six years after then-Chelsea (now Monaco) centre-back Ricardo Carvalho called Di Santo "Crespito"—a reference to Crespo—the comparison is now formulating.

@allanjianga

+allanjiang

Statistics via WhoScored