Why are Chelsea signing Tyler Adams? London club's move for USMNT star assessed and the role he will play

Nathan Evans

Why are Chelsea signing Tyler Adams? London club's move for USMNT star assessed and the role he will play image

After impressing with Leeds United last season, the latest reports suggest that Premier League side Chelsea have triggered a £20million release clause in Tyler Adams' contract in order to bring the midfielder to Stamford Bridge for this upcoming season. 

The USMNT midfielder featured 26 times for the Elland Road outfit last season, though the Yorkshire side's campaign ultimately ended in relegation to the second tier of English football. 

Even despite that, Adams shone on a personal level with a string of strong performances throughout the season which ultimately haven't gone unnoticed by one of the country's biggest clubs. 

In this article, we'll look at why Chelsea want to sign Adams, how he'll fit into Mauricio Pochettino's tactical set up and how he compares to the club's current midfielders.

MORE: European places in Premier League for 2023/24: How Champions League, Europa and Conference League are decided

Why do Chelsea want to sign Tyler Adams? 

Bizarrely, and even despite the fact that Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has spent an eye-watering amount of money in order to turn around the club's on-pitch fortunes, the Blues' midfield still seems lacking on paper. 

Moves for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia continue to be stalled by Brighton and Southampton's collectively reluctance to sell, whilst a number of players in that department have been shipped out  — like Mateo Kovacic joining Manchester City and Mason Mount heading to Manchester United.

As such, there's a very real need to bring in a midfielder and quickly before the season fully gets underway. 

Up step Tyler Adams who's been linked with a move to the club for a number of weeks now and there's a number of different reasons as to why Chelsea should want to sign the Wappingers Falls native. 

Tyler Adams models the 2022 USMNT home kit
US Soccer & Nike

Firstly, there's the topic of the price tag. Now granted, £20million is still a lot of money in football but in comparison to Chelsea's high profile pursuits of Caicedo (Brighton want around 100m) and Lavia (£50m), it's really not a lot of investment for a player with the skill set and experience of Adams. 

As it's a release clause in his current Leeds contract it also paves the way for a quick and relatively easy negotiation which should suit the Blues given their apparent need for a quick addition in midfield. Adams is still struggling with a hamstring injury from last season according to Leeds manager Daniel Farke, though his return date is likely to be nearing. 

Secondly, there's the playing profile of Adams who excels in a number of different ways in his style and what he can offer Mauricio Pochettino.

His tenacious approach and constant want to do the 'dirty work' in midfield would prove an excellent choice alongside a player like Enzo Fernandez who could then almost solely focus on progressing the ball up the field either in possession or through his wide array of passing. 

That was seen last season for Leeds as Adams usually sat alongside Marc Roca in the centre of the park with the Spanish midfielder doing the bulk of the progressive passing. In return, Adams disrupted the opposition's play, breaking up their attacks before simply distributing the ball quickly after recovering possession. 

Adams has already shown that he's capable of playing at the highest level in football. He's previously made 75 Bundesliga appearances for RB Leipzig and even featured in 14 Champions League matches during his spell in Germany.   

He's also featured heavily for the USMNT and captained his country at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. During that tournament, he played every minute for his side, winning the most tackles and duels and making the most successful passes along the way.

For a player at the age of just 24, he's a really experienced option, especially for the price tag.

MORE: USMNT transfer news in summer 2023: Latest on Musah to Milan, Balogun, and more 

Would Tyler Adams improve Chelsea?

It's a simple question and if you want a simple answer; yes, he would. 

Where the pursuit of Adams from Chelsea's point of view is so appealing is in the fact that the Blues simply don't have another player at their disposal with the playing profile of the USMNT midfielder.

Last season in the Premier League in a dysfunctional Leeds side who were ultimately relegated, Adams still shone brightly.

In fact, according to website FBRef, Adams ranked very highly for tackles, blocks and interceptions made per 90 to highlight that point.  

When comparing the defensive output of his performances last season with some of Chelsea's main midfielders — Enzo Fernandez, Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher  — it's clear to see that Adams would be a huge upgrade in that department. Last season of the four, he recorded the most tackles won, interceptions and ball recoveries, whilst he also created a decent number of chances for his teammates in an attacking sense, a figure only likely to grow further when playing for a stronger team. 

Adams compared to first-team Chelsea midfielders in the Premier League last season

  Adams Fernandez Mount Gallagher
Games played 24 18 24 35
Goal contributions 0 2 5 4
Chances created 24 20 30 21
Passing accuracy 82.4% 89.1% 80.1% 84.6%
Tackles won 46 27 19 33
Interceptions 35 16 8 23
Blocks 7 2 5 9
Ball recoveries 199 118 85 93

Granted, Chelsea fans will still be hoping that the club can sign Caicedo from Brighton this summer, especially given how long the negotiations have been going on for. 

But in the meantime and potentially as a stop gap until the young midfielder can finally be brought in, Adams definitely fits the bill as a player who will improve Chelsea and won't cost a huge sum of money.

In a midfield two — which manager Pochettino is likely to utilise this season — he'd compliment Fernandez brilliantly and would act as an overall upgrade on the seemingly unfancied Gallagher.

Premier League 2023/24 TV channels, live streams

Region TV Streaming
Australia Optus Sport
Canada

Fubo Canada

Hong Kong Now TV
India Star Sports Disney+, Hotstar,
JioTV
Malaysia Astro SuperSport Astro Go
New Zealand Sky Sport Sky Sport Now,
Sky Go
Singapore StarHub StarHub TV+
UK Sky Sports, TNT Sports NOW TV, Sky Go,
Amazon Prime
USA USA Network,
Telemundo, Universo
Fubo, Peacock

UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and TNT Sports streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.

USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on Fubo. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.

Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streamed exclusively via Fubo in Canada.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.

India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).

Nathan Evans

Nathan Evans Photo

A Sports Journalism Masters graduate, Nathan Evans joined The Sporting News in 2022 after working at Opta/Stats Perform for six years. He's an avid fan of Bradford City, FC Köln and the Pittsburgh Penguins.