• March 29, 2022
• Olaoluwa Nwobodo

With the sanctions imposed on Chelsea by the UK Government, Chelsea is now unable to renew contracts. Before the sanctions, Chelsea was already almost certain to lose Andreas Christensen, with the Denmark defender linked to Barcelona. Chelsea also already had issues with resolving Antonio Rudiger’s contract situation. The sanctions seem to be taking those decisions out of Chelsea’s hands. Sources from various corners quote different dates for when they expect Chelsea to have new owners. However you choose to look at it, the Blues management should be looking to recruit new centerbacks.

One of the names they should be fixated on is SC Freiburg and Germany’s Nico Schlotterbeck.

Schlotterbeck made his Freiburg debut on March 9, 2019. He became a bonafide member of the squad in the 2020/21 season, making 15 starts. He only established himself as a key member of the Freiburg squad this season. He has started and played 25 league games this season. In that time he has been outstanding, leading the Bundesliga in several key defensive metrics. Schlotterbeck has made it into SofaScore’s Team of the Week eight times this season. That’s a lot for a centerback considering only three centerbacks can get into the Team of the Week every week and there are 83 of them active in the Bundesliga.

Schlotterbeck is achieving things not just individually, but with his team as well. Schlotterbeck boasts the most shots blocked (28) among centerbacks in the Bundesliga this season. He also ranks sixth for the most interceptions (44) made amongst centerbacks. He again leads all centerbacks in the league for tackles won (52), winning 78% of his tackles. His penalty box command is elite as he wins 73% of his aerial duels. He also ranks second for most aerial duels won (84), with only Eintracht Frankfurt’s Evan Ndicka winning more aerial duels than he has. It gets better.

Schlotterbeck has helped Freiburg to be the second-best defense in the Bundesliga, conceding just one more goal than… Bayern Munich. In fact, Freiburg and Bayern have kept the same number of clean sheets this season (9). Schlotterbeck has been key in eight out of the 9 clean sheets Freiburg has secured this season. Stefan Bell is the only centerback that has more clean sheets to his name than Schlotterbeck.

Schlotterbeck is also busy in the attacking third as well. He has scored the third most goals for Freiburg this season (4), as well as scoring the most goals of any defender in the league. In addition to winning 73% of his aerial duels, he also wins 67% of all his duels, which is quite incredible indeed.

His passing is not incredible compared to some top centerbacks, however, when you consider the team he plays in, it’s good. Schlotterbeck has made the second-most passes (1284) for Freiburg this season and makes the second-most long passes (98), one less than his teammate Philip Lienhart. This indicates that Schlotterbeck is not only key to how they defend, but also how they play out and attack.

Schlotterbeck leads Freiburg players for passes into the final third (103), 39 more than the next player in that chart. He also ranks second for progressive passes (105) amongst Freiburg players. Schlotterbeck has helped Freiburg to push for European places this season, as they currently occupy fifth place in the Bundesliga table with no games ahead. He is only 22 years-old and he’s already this good. It’s scary to think how good he’d be when he enters his prime.

Thomas Tuchel would have no problem fitting him into his system as well, whatever system he chooses to play. Schlotterbeck has made 14 appearances for Freiburg this season in a two centerback formation (back four). He has also made 11 appearances on the left of a three centerback formation (back three). It’s clear that the 22-year-old is familiar with both two and three centerback formations. In fact, he made his international debut for Germany on Saturday and played on the left of a three centerback backline. He did keep a clean sheet but that was in large part thanks to Kevin Trapp, who saved a penalty conceded by Schlotterbeck himself.

It is only fair to point out that Schlotterbeck is clearly not the finished product, as he loses the ball perhaps an uncomfortable number of times for a centerback per game (11.8). At Chelsea ball retention is key, and Schlotterbeck would have to learn to reduce the number of long balls he attempts per game in order to prioritize ball retention and recycling of possession more. There aren’t many weaknesses to his game, which is a credit to him. Chelsea needs to act fast before he gets on the radar of European giants and a bidding war starts. Germany manager Hansi Flick has already noticed him and it would not be long before other top clubs do the same.

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