Chelsea continued to splash the cash with wild abandon earlier this week, after the club confirmed on Wednesday they have signed the highly-rated Brazilian Oscar on a five-year contract. The 20-year-old arrives at Stamford Bridge in a deal rumoured to be in the region of £25m and is the fifth attacking midfielder to join the club since the end of last season, following the acquisitions of Eden and Thorgan Hazard, Marko Marin and Kevin De Bruyne.
The transfer comes as little surprise, bearing in mind the midfielder revealed days ago he had already undergone a medical for the Champions League winners. While Roberto Di Matteo lavished praise upon the youngster, the Blues boss also indicated the new signings may need time to gel within the Chelsea system in the season ahead:
He is a fantastic player, one of the youngest to push through to the Brazilian national team and he will be a fantastic signing for us. Oscar is a very exciting young talent, a creative midfield player who scores goals. He will add a lot of options and solutions for us in midfield. It will be a challenge to make sure we have the right balance within the team so we will have to see how we fit the team together with all the players.
The Statistics
Oscar’s career began in the Sao Paulo youth system in his native country before he made his first-team debut for the club at the age of 17. His only season there harvested 11 league appearances and a trio of assists before he moved on to Internacional in December 2010. The attacking midfielder made just five appearances over the remainder of his first season at his new club but the 2011/12 campaign saw Oscar produce the type of attacking returns that made him such a highly sought-after talent. Over the course of 26 league appearances, he returned 10 goals and seven assists and helped steer his side to the local state championship. He also turned out five times for the club this season before joining up with his country for Olympic duty.
On the international stage, Oscar featured for Brazil at every level from Under 15 – Under 20 before stepping up to the senior side last year. He has turned out for Brazil on six occasions and netted on his last appearance against Argentina, though his most memorable moment for his country so far has been a hat-trick against Portugal in the semi-finals of the Under 20 World Cup in Colombia.
The Prospects
There is no doubt that the Chelsea midfield has both the potential to delight and furiously frustrate Fantasy managers in equal measure next season. Certainly, the 4-2-3-1 shape looks established now and while loan moves for both De Bruyne and Thorgan Hazard have been mooted, the number of options still available to Di Matteo means midfield rotation could bite hard.
Much may depend on how much Di Matteo cedes to the wishes of Roman Abramovich in handing all the marquee names simultaneous starting roles. Considering Eden Hazard was purchased before Di Matteo even penned a full-time contract, it’s fairly apparent that the Russian owner is now intent on seeing his side dazzle – as opposed to grind – their way to silverware. An attacking trident of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar, interchanging positions and wreaking havoc behind Fernando Torres is perhaps the ultimate scenario, though with Marko Marin, Florent Malouda, Daniel Sturridge, Yossi Benayoun and possibly Ramires in the mix for the offensive midfield slots, certainty of game time looks an unlikely ally for the vast majority.
Di Matteo has already hinted that Mata is likely to be afforded time off at the start of the season due to back-to-back Euro 2012 and Olympic involvement with Spain – it’s not yet clear whether Oscar will feature in his immediate plans, though bearing in mind that he could feature for Brazil for up to a week before the domestic campaign kicks off on Saturday August 18, the youngster is likely to be gradually introduced to the Stamford Bridge set-up,.
Priced at 8.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Oscar is far from cheap and looks no more than a punt initially, with Hazard, Marin and Frank Lampard the likely candidates for a double Gameweek 1 which sees the Blues travel to Wigan before hosting Reading. Intriguingly, Oscar comes in at a mere 5.8 in the Sky Sports game – far cheaper than both Mata (8.9) and Hazard (7.7) – and with Chelsea welcoming (NEW, STO, NOR) to the Bridge by the end of Gameweek 7, there’s little doubt their fixtures are enticing. By then, hopefully, there will be a little more clarity over Di Matteo’s selection policy but there would be no surprise if rotation continues to curtail our best-laid plans over the course of the upcoming season and reduce the Blues midfield to a Fantasy manager’s nightmare.
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