World Football: 5 Things Luka Modric Can Add to Chelsea—If He Gets There

When you think about transfer windows and Chelsea FC, you think about Roman Abramovich reaching into his cavernous pockets, finding an exorbitant amount of cash, and using it to get his man. Robben. Obi Mikel. Ballack. Shevchenko (well, when he was good at AC Milan). Deco (well, when he was good at Barcelona). Torres.

The Russian oligarch has never been one to settle for anything else than star quality. He expects his Chelsea side to field a team of 11 world superstars.

However, this summer, Chelsea have met stumbling blocks in the transfer market where there once were none, failing to land their prime target—Tottenham's midfield maestro, Luka Modric.

After seeing bids of £22m and £27m rejected by Spurs, coupled with the Blues' sputtering start this past weekend, where they drew 0-0 away at Stoke, new manager Andre Villas-Boas may exhort his employer to pull out all the stops to bring the diminutive Croatian to Stamford Bridge.

Maybe Abramovic can seal the deal by adding in an anti-twitching cream for Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp; who must set records with the amount of times he blinks during a match.

Added Quality in Midfield

Many may wonder why Chelsea need another midfielder considering the they already boast Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Yossi Benayoun, John Obi Mikel, Ramires, Joshua McEachran, and new signing Oriol Romeu.

The issue here is not quantity, but the lack of quality. Frank Lampard is not the midfielder he used to be after suffering a serious groin injury last year and at 34, the English international's days playing at the top level are numbered.

Michael Essien is among the best in the world at holding midfielder—when healthy. The Ghanaian has developed a maddening tendency to miss upwards of 2-4 months a season due to various ailments.

Yossi Benayoun is a crafty customer in midfield but a ruptured Achilles caused the Israeli international to miss the bulk of the season. At this point, he might find it hard to find his way back into the side.

John Obi Mikel does not bring much in the way of attacking play in his midfielding role, which is predicated on defensive work in the center of the park.

Ramires—signed in summer 2010— is more of the box-to-box player which at times takes away from his attacking ability since he is forced to cover extensive ground during games. Still, he is incredibly difficult to win the ball off of when going forward—don't let his slight frame deceive you.

Young boys Joshua McEachran—who impressed during spot duty with the first team last year— and Oriol Romeu are promising but they are both inexperienced and need more time to develop into midfield superstars.

This is where Luka Modric comes into play. He has the uncanny ability to pull the strings in midfield, and deliver a killer final ball. A wily customer, he's deceptively quick, and when on form, can be one of the most disruptive forces in the EPL. 

Chelsea piled on the pressure during the Stoke match, but failed to find the net. Perhaps with Modric linking up play and providing service to the dangerous Chelsea strikers, the Blues will have found their missing link.

He Can Be the Key to Unlock the Chelsea Strikeforce's Troubles

The Croatian is a natural-born playmaker. Luka Modric has a wonderful array of passing abilities and his ability to play with both feet makes him even a bigger threat on the offensive side of the ball.

He can pick a perfect through ball and he knows how to help his strikers score. If you watched the Chelsea-Stoke City match last weekend, you would know that Fernando Torres has found part of his old Liverpool form that once made him the scourge of the EPL. It's bad news for defenders that the fair-skinned Spaniard has rediscovered his ability to strike fear into the hearts of defenders.

However, you would also know that he did not find the back of the net—which was the reason Abramovic dished out £50 million for him.

Enter Modric.

Apart from being a tireless worker in the center of the park, Modric brings out the best in those around him.

Many critics point to his low assist totals over the past couple seasons, and maintain that he's not as influential as he's cracked up to be. They fail to realize that stats fail to tell the whole story in football. This isn't baseball, after all, where OPS can make or break a player's future prospects.

Modric is brilliant at getting "hockey assists"—the pass before the assist. It was his passing in the center of the park last season that often sent Spurs winger Gareth Bale in behind the opposing defenses.

With the little Croatian in the Chelsea central midfield, Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba would have a world-class distributor—one who could reinvigorate Torres' career, and maybe convince Drogba to stay. He would also accelerate the development of youngsters Daniel Sturridge and Romelu Lukaku into elite strikers.

Playing Defense as Well as Controlling the Offense

Modric draws comparisons to Spain's man-in-the-middle, Xavi, in that his pressing is often an underrated reason that his side recovers the ball with such efficiency.

Once the ball is turned over, Luka doesn't saunter back; instead, he works tirelessly to win the ball back. Chelsea are lacking that kind of mentality in its current midfield: Lampard has never been known as a destroyer, after all, relying on Essien or Mikel to win the ball back.

Modric has adapted to the English way of football since his £16.6m arrival in 2008, and doesn't shy away from physical encounters in the dogged Premier League, where the midfield is often a war zone.

This is the type of determination fans and managers love to see. With Modric, he not only can take the ball back, but he almost instantly can initiate another attack on goal. He'd be an instant favorite at the Bridge.

Modric Can HOLD the Ball for Chelsea

Many times while watching Chelsea games, fans are subjected to poor decision-making and insufficient distribution in central midfield.

The midfield attempt the audacious when the perfectly simple would do.

This is one key aspect of Modric's game—he is skillful at holding up play, before deciding what to do next. Rarely do you see him make rash decisions and commit costly turnovers. He appreciates how crucial a span of ten or twenty seconds can be for the defense to catch its breath. By keeping possession, Modric allows the Chelsea wing-backs (Cole, Ivanovic) to bomb forward and offer delivery to Drogba, Torres, and Nicolas Anelka.

Modric would drastically improve the overall efficiency of the Blues' midfield. Not something to be discounted during the course of a long, grinding EPL season.

Luka Thrives on the Big Stage

A number of players in the Barclays Premier League are considered exceptional—in domestic play.

It becomes infinitely more difficult to find players who apply their domestic form to the grander European one. The UEFA Champions League is nothing like the EPL—in facing the top teams from around Europe, the games are often played at a higher pace, where passing and overall play take precedent over physicality.

Last year—Tottenham's first in the Champions League in some time—Modric drew widespread praise for his performances in those games.

While many remember Gareth Bale surging down the flanks and terrorizing teams like Inter—when the Welshman single-handedly destroyed any belief that Maicon can play defense—, most forget who was pulling the strings for the North London side.

Luka Modric was not afraid of playing against European champions like Gennaro Gattuso (pictured above), using the opportunity to win plaudits for his impressive displays.

The Hardest Part: Bringing Him to Chelsea

With less than two weeks to go in the transfer market (which ends Aug. 31), it is time for Chelsea to step up their bid for the little midfielder.

Whether it be an improved bid or a cash-plus-player(s) deal—Benayoun and Solomon Kalou have been rumored to be possible inclusions in a swap—what is certain is the west London's need for him. Should they succeed in bringing him to the Bridge, they not only make themselves a bigger threat in the EPL and in the UEFA Champions League—they enter into the discussion as title favorites.