The Athletic name two players Chelsea are confident can provide cover in key area of squad | OneFootball

Chelsea believe Reece James and Malo Gusto can fill in for Marc Cucurella at left back following the departure of Renato Veiga according to The Athletic.

The transfer window slammed shut on Monday night and the Blues arguably ended with a weaker squad than they started with.

The only signing was 19-year-old midfielder Mathis Amougou from St Etienne, whilst six players from the first team squad departed.

Chelsea believe James and Gusto can fill at left back

The Blues sold Cesare Casadei to Torino, whilst Veiga, Axel Disasi, Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka and Joao Felix all left on loan.

The departure of Veiga was somewhat of a surprise given he only joined last summer from Swiss side FC Basel for €14m.

The 21-year-old became a full Portugal international in his first six months at Stamford Bridge, but has now joined Juventus on loan.

Chelsea are confident James can fill in at left back if needed. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

Veiga is said to have wanted to play more regular minutes in his preferred centre back position, but his departure leaves Chelsea with no natural left back cover in the squad.

It means there’s now a lot of pressure on Marc Cucurella to stay fit, and an injury to the Spain international would present Chelsea with a major problem.

However, The Athletic have reported Chelsea are in fact confident that both James and Gusto can provide cover for Cucurella for the remainder of the season if required.

Both James and Gusto have played at left back on occasions this campaign, although it’s not ideal for either given they would be playing out of position.

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There’s no doubt Chelsea have taken a gamble, but Cucurella seems very durable and hasn’t had many injury problems during his time at the club, although he missed a few months with an ankle injury last season.

There’s a chance one of James or Gusto could feature at left back in the FA Cup against Brighton on Saturday if Maresca decides to give Cucurella a rest.