Six years ago today, Oriol Romeu signed for Chelsea in a move he hoped would kickstart his senior career, after rising through the system at La Masia but inevitably failing to dislodge Sergio Busquets from Barcelona’s iconic midfield.

Like the many young players to naively join the ranks at Stamford Bridge, the Spaniard’s first-team involvement was spasmodic and brief, spending much of his time out on loan with firstly Valencia and then Stuttgart.

But also like the many young players stockpiled, commoditised and farmed out by the west Londoners without half a thought to what the future may bring, most notably Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, since leaving permanently in summer 2015 Romeu has steadily proved his suitability to playing at that trophy-chasing level once again.

Had it not been for the more dynamic play-breaking of N’Golo Kante and Idrissa Gueye last season, and had it not been for Virgil van Dijk’s tabloid coronation as the next superstar likely to swap Southampton for a top Premier League club by way of a humungous transfer fee (linked with Manchester City in June and more frequently Liverpool) Romeu’s performances throughout 2016/17 would likely have garnered far more attention.

He’s not the most fashionable of players either, another cause of the 25-year-old slipping somewhat under the radar. Defensive midfielders - especially traditional anchormen of Romeu’s description - are understated by nature, but last season particularly appeared to see them go out of fashion as 3-4-3 with two dynamic, box-to-box central midfielders began to rule supreme.

In contrast, Southampton stuck with systems that maximised Romeu’s qualities, utilising a diamond midfield, a defensive 4-3-3 and a 4-1-4-1 for all but eleven of their 38 Premier League fixtures. That put the Spaniard in his favoured anchoring role and accordingly, it was often him who ran the show from the base of the engine room - providing control of the midfield both with and without the ball.

In fact, no midfielder completed more interceptions than Romeu last season, whilst he also ranked third for tackles, sixth for shots blocked and second for aerial duels won, highlighting the protection he provides in front of the defence - a key cause of Southampton conceding the fewest goals outside of the top seven, their 48 being the only return lower than 50 throughout the rest of the division, despite losing their two star centre-backs Virgil van Dijk and Jose Fonte in January to injury and West Ham respectively.

On the ball too, Romeu was Southampton’s metronome last season, averaging the most passes per match of any player in the squad and producing the fifth most of any Premier League midfielder. Although the majority of these were sideways - only 17 produced scoring opportunities and none were converted into assists - it was a vital component of Southampton’s ball-retention, coming seventh in the Premier League for possession last term, and provided the platform to build attacks from deep.

But what was most impressive about Romeu’s performances last season is that his best were largely reserved for the Premier League’s most challenging sides. His average performance rating from Whoscored last season was 7.15, but his ranking against top six opponents - despite Southampton not beating any in the Premier League - was just over 7.2, including his second-highest return of the season, 7.89, in a scoreless draw with Manchester United.

That suggests Romeu, a product of two of Europe’s biggest clubs, is ready to return to that high level once again, knowing how to subdue high-quality players whilst getting the ball to the more creative team-mates around him. The lingering question, however, is how suitable he is to the systems being used at the top of the Premier League table, and whether those clubs actually have room for him.

Chelsea and Arsenal look set to continue in their 3-4-3 set-ups, requiring more dynamic midfielders, whereas Tottenham’s 4-2-3-1 may not get the best out of Romeu in quite the same way, operating as part of a two rather than having two in front of him. Manchester United’s 4-3-3 undoubtedly suits him best, but Jose Mourinho has just paid Chelsea £40million for Nemanja Matic.

That leaves Liverpool and Manchester City; a team who set up in 4-3-3 but have their captain at the midfield base in Jordan Henderson and a manager more than acquainted with the Busquets-esque role from his famous spell at Barcelona, but appears to be favouring a more mobile alternative in Fernandinho at the Etihad Stadium.

Nonetheless, Romeu could well prove to be a more superior option than both. Henderson started last season strongly in his new-found deeper role but will begin next term overcoming an injury problem from February, which may not see the England international revive his prior form for a good few months.

Romeu’s more of a natural for that role anyway, albeit less agile and energetic, and it’s a similar case with Fernandinho, who will have a huge job on his hands once again as the only man separating the defence from City’s attacking midfield hub.

Although the Brazilian has the legs to cover that kind of ground, two red cards last season suggests it was a little too demanding and that he lacks the required savviness. In contrast, Romeu wasn’t sent off once - despite producing the second-most fouls of any Premier League midfielder and picking up eleven yellow cards. Romeu’s approach to that role would be much different; rather than galloping around the midfield closing down space, he’d suck the ball towards him with his reading of the game.

Perhaps he’s a little too defensive for the attacking mantras of both managers. But during a season in which the battle for the top four and the title race could be the closest we’ve either seen, every top six club could do with someone like Romeu for those six-pointers and the closing stages of eked-out wins against the rest of the division. Valued by Transfermarkt at just £8.5million, albeit with five years still to go on his Southampton contract, Romeu is the perfect man for such occasions of minuscule margins.

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