The emergence of Malo Gusto at Chelsea this season has been a rare positive in a pretty disappointing year so far. In fact, we think we’ve found a statistic that illustrates perfectly what a brilliant campaign the 20-year-old’s enjoying.
Malo Gusto, who’s an all-action right-back, signed for the Blues back in January 2023 in a deal worth £26 million (Sky Sports). He stayed with Lyon until joining up with Chelsea last summer.
It’s fair to say his debut season in English football is exceeding all expectations so far!
Gusto arrived in west London as the understudy and competition at full-back to Chelsea captain Reece James. Unfortunately, the 24-year-old’s only played nine games all season due to injury.
That has left the door wide open for Gusto to fill a spot in the XI…
The French right-back has been pretty exquisite with the consistent level of his performances, from both an attacking and defensive point of view.
Speaking via BBC Sport earlier this month, Pat Nevin said that Gusto’s among Chelsea’s top three performers this year.
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Malo Gusto has eclipsed Marcos Alonso record
Not everyone’s cup of tea, but former Chelsea player Marcos Alonso was a big success at Chelsea for the attacking output he provided from full-back.
The Spanish left-back, who now plays for Barcelona, scored 29 goals and made 23 assists in 212 Chelsea appearances.
It’s interesting to see Gusto’s already overtaken one record by the former Blues star.
Alonso’s best assist return in a single season during six years at the club was the 2018/19 campaign, where he ended up with seven assists in 39 matches across all competitions.
With two months still left in Gusto’s debut year, he currently sits on eight assists from only 29 games across all competitions.
It really puts into context what a pivotal attacking force the full-back is in Mauricio Pochettino’s system right now. We’re backing him to smash double digits in the assist return, which would mark an amazing first year from a player whose crossing into the box is usually on the money.
