Chelsea have been in the market for a new holding midfielder all summer.

Declan Rice has been the name at the top of their list for the longest time, but as deadline day approaches, it may be time for the Blues to take a look at a few other options, having not made a breakthrough with Rice yet.

Apparently, they’re doing just that, with reports claiming that Thomas Partey is now a potential option for Frank Lampard’s side.

Partey has been one of the most coveted players in this window, with the Ghanaian consistently linked with a move to Arsenal, but now it seems as though he could end up at another London club with Chelsea interested.

With Partey being a key man for one of the best defensive teams in Europe, one would imagine that this move would immediately solve Chelsea’s current midfield problem, but a look at his stats shows that he’s scarily similar to another man who has previously flopped at Stamford Bridge.

Indeed, Partey’s statistical profile is strikingly similar to Tiemoue Bakayoko’s was during his first spell with Monaco, and in some cases, he’s actually worse.

Bakayoko actually made more tackles and interceptions per game during his final season before joining Chelsea than Partey made last season, and while Bakayoko made 0.1 more fouls per game, the Atletico man seems to be a lot more rash, picking up 13 bookings last season, while Bakayoko has never had more than five in a single league campaign.

Going forward, the pair are also very similar, Bakayoko’s pass success rate during the 2016/17 campaign was actually better than Partey’s in 2019/20, while only 0.1 key passes per game separate the pair.

Of course, arguments can be made about the quality of Ligue 1 vs La Liga, but if you’re just looking at the data, it seems as though Chelsea could be tracking a player who won’t actually solve their midfield issues if he follows the same trajectory as Bakayoko - who is now on the verge of a Stamford Bridge exit with Napoli interested.