Oriol Romeu: Is Chelsea's Stuttgart Loanee a Cash Cow or a Dud?
Amid Chelsea signing Juan Cuadrado, promoting Isaiah Brown and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to the first team, it is easy to forget about Spanish defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu, 23, who is on loan at Stuttgart in the German Bundesliga.
Having extended Romeu's contract until 2017, is he another cash cow for Chelsea?
Contrarily, Romeu might fail to increase his transfer stock past €5/£3.8 million, the figure of Chelsea's investment in the former Barcelona prospect.
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Here is a detailed examination of Romeu's loan at Stuttgart, which will help you project his upside.
In order to fairly judge Romeu, you need to understand the context of Stuttgart, a club which is in a volatile situation that jeopardises their standing in the Bundesliga.
Being in an unstable environment does not serve Romeu well.
Then-Stuttgart sporting director Fredi Bobic was contrite and sent out the right message.
"Our personnel has changed a bit. The entire team and coaching staff are new. Hopefully that brings fresh impetus," Bobic said, per the Bundesliga.com. "We won't be as presumptuous as we were last season. We said the team will finish a lot higher than we did and we fell flat on our faces."
All talk, no action.
Five games into the Bundesliga season, Stuttgart were without a win (two draws, three defeats).
Stuttgart ultras Commando Cannstatt campaigned for Bobic's sacking.
"The time has come, to come out and say that [Bobic], a good ex-player, just isn't up to the job as a board member," the group said, per Ross Dunbar at Deutsche Welle. "The summer break was wasted, we failed to regroup and examine the problems."
September 24, 2014, per Bundesliga.com: Stuttgart fires Bobic.
Nostalgia took over then-Stuttgart manager Armin Veh as he reminisced about how his squad celebrated winning the 2006-07 Bundesliga title.
"It was picture book weather. We drove through the city with the roof down. We needed four-and-a-half hours for eight kilometres," Veh said, per the Bundesliga.com. "There was an incredible energy around the place. The players really partied hard."
Returning to Stuttgart, Veh's aim seemed simple: provide stability.
"It's a different job now and I'm looking forward to it," Veh said, per the Bundesliga.com. "I want to help Stuttgart develop. That's the challenge."
No Timo Hildebrand to make game-changing saves. No Fernando Meira to marshal the defence. No Pavel Pardo to boss midfield. No Mario Gomez and Cacau to score match-winning goals.
Veh understated how it was a challenge because he was overwhelmed as he futilely attempted to coach a substandard Stuttgart team.
"Sometimes you fight and fight but can't change it," Veh said, per Raphael Honigstein at The Guardian. "I'm listening to my gut."
November 25, 2014, per Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Veh resigns as Stuttgart manager.
Veh was replaced by Huub Stevens, who had stepped down last season as Stuttgart manager after keeping the club in the Bundesliga.
When Stevens responded to Stuttgart's SOS, it was deja vu.
Stuttgart are in a state of discombobulation:
- January 26, 2015, per VFB.de: Reshuffle of Stuttgart's administration.
- January 23, 2015, per VFB.de: Stuttgart deny involvement in an alleged match-fixing incident during a training game.
- January 6, 2015, per Sky Sports: Hired Robin Dutt as sporting director, who has the tactical nous, but never produced the goods as a Bundesliga manager. Dutt has no gravitas, lacks the CV and the experience to oversee Stevens.
Surrounded by chaos and with Stuttgart second-last in the Bundesliga, Romeu has neither been a flop nor a success.
He has been average and has kept his head above water.
"Players who can deal with pressure are better footballers," Romeu said, per the Bundesliga.com. "I don't know what Chelsea will decide, but I can envisage it [staying at Stuttgart]."
It is understandable why Romeu sees a long-term future for himself at Stuttgart.
- Played 17 of 18 Bundesliga games.
- Started 94.1 percent of games he has been involved in.
- Averages 82.2 minutes per game.
What Romeu needs to work on is his one-on-one defending.
Whenever Romeu attempts a tackle, he is 48.7 percent likely to be beaten.
Fortunately, Carlos Gruezo—the main threat to displace Romeu from the starting line-up—also has flaws.
| Tackles Per 90 Mins. | 2.3 | 2.5 |
| Tackles Per Foul | 0.7 | 1.4 |
| Tackles Success % | 41.7 | 51.3 |
| Interceptions Per 90 Mins. | 1.2 | 3.7 |
| Passes Per 90 Mins. | 34.2 | 48.6 |
| Pass Success % | 82.9 | 83.2 |
Romeu is a proficient passing outlet completing 14.4 more passes per 90 minutes than Gruezo.
At 5'7" and 147 pounds, Gruezo is not as imposing as Romeu, who is 6'0" and 183 pounds.
Also, Romeu is a better tackler and a substantially more prolific interceptor than Gruezo.
Stuttgart's coaching staff believe in Romeu.
When Stevens reverted to a 4-1-4-1 in a 1-0 defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach, Romeu was tasked with shielding the defence as the No. 6.
It is a vote of confidence in Romeu who has been average at best from the perspective of the German media.
Kicker rate footballers on a scale of one to six; one being world class, six being Jose Bosingwa-bad.
Romeu's current rating, 3.82, is significantly better than Francis Coquelin's 4.20 rating for Freiburg during the 2013-14 season.
Look at Coquelin now, who has re-emerged at Arsenal, according to Thierry Henry.
"Arsenal don't look like they will concede, they can score and [Coquelin] gave everyone protection everybody was talking about," Henry said, per Sky Sports. "Sometimes you look for that player and they are right in front of you."
| Tackles Per 90 Mins. | 3.9 | 2.5 |
| Tackles Per Foul | 2.5 | 1.4 |
| Tackles Success % | 62.8 | 51.3 |
| Interceptions Per 90 Mins. | 2.3 | 3.7 |
| Passes Per 90 Mins. | 67.1 | 48.6 |
| Pass Success % | 86.9 | 83.2 |
Eddie Newton, Chelsea's technical coach for the youth-development programme, has been breaking down Romeu's film and telling him areas he needs to improve, per Kicker (h/t Stephan Uersfeld at ESPN FC).
This is an indicator that Chelsea still have Romeu in their plans and want him to feel somewhat part of the family.
Romeu still needs to polish his game, though he can be a viable alternative to Nemanja Matic.
But, if Chelsea don't view Romeu as first-team material, it opens the door for Stuttgart.
Remember this pivotal transfer.
Stuttgart re-signed Joshua Kimmich from RB Leipzig for €750,000/£567,750 and then sold him to Bayern Munich for €7/£5.3 million (transfer will be ratified on July 1, 2015).
You surmise Stuttgart completed that deal knowing they want to extend Romeu's loan into a permanent transfer.
In that hypothetical scenario, Chelsea at a minimum should negotiate Romeu's transfer fee to €9.3/£7 million, the amount Stuttgart paid Fiorentina for Zdravko Kuzmanovic in 2009.
If that happens, Romeu would be another profitable transfer Chelsea chalk up.
- Barcelona → Chelsea: €5/£3.8 million (2011).
- Chelsea → Stuttgart (hypothetical): €9.3/£7 million (2015).
- Profit: €4.3/£3.2 million.
When not specified, statistics via WhoScored.com.
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