Dario Essugo is not good enough to be Moises Caicedo’s backup at this moment in time. Since joining Chelsea Football Club back in June 2025, Essugo has been hindered by injuries. The Portuguese midfielder has not played as much football as he has desired. However, the 21-year-old has been unable to make the most of his opportunities when he has stepped onto the pitch.
In the 2-1 loss against Tottenham Hotspur, his performance left a lot to be desired. The midfielder only won 4 out of his 10 ground duels, and he only completed 2 out of his 6 attempted passes in the final third, whilts easily being dribbled past twice. The most disappointing part of Essugo’s performance was that he turned the ball over 3 times near the edge of Tottenham’s penalty area, which led to the Lilywhites kickstarting 3 dangerous counterattacks of their own.
Ultimately, although it is only pre-season and it has to be taken with a pinch of salt, the 21-year-old looked so far off the pace compared to the majority of his teammates. This is an opportunity for the players to impress the new manager, Xabi Alonso, and Essugo did not grab this gilt-edged chance by the scruff of the neck. He was slow on the ball, was out of position off the ball, which made it easy for Tottenham to break the lines especially in the first half, and he was unable to dictate the match.
For contrast, when comparing his performance to Reggie Watson’s against Western Sydney Wanderers, there is a night-and-day difference. Although there is a huge gap in quality between the Australian side and Tottenham, the 16-year-old controlled the middle of the park and constantly broke the lines in order to push his side forward. However, on the other hand, Essugo looked lacklustre, sloppy and turned the ball over when Chelsea were on the front foot.
Xabi Alonso wants his midfielders to progress the ball, be solid defensively, in regard to winning direct 50-50 duels and for his midfielders to be very comfortable keeping the ball in tight spaces, like Granit Xhaka was for him at Bayer Leverkusen. In the match against Tottenham, Essugo struggled to do any of the basics at a high level.
It is crystal clear to see why Chelsea are targeting another midfielder in the transfer window, especially when taking into account that Essugo is not the finished product and that Romeo Lavia is very injury-prone.
Chelsea need to find the perfect partner next to Moises Caicedo in the middle of the park. Xabi Alonso will be aiming to have a defensive type of midfielder in order to allow Caicedo to push slightly further up the pitch. Essugo is clearly not ready to be a regular starter, Lavia has picked up so many injuries over the last 3 years, and Enzo Fernández’s future at Chelsea is up in the air. As well as needing to strengthen a few other areas across the pitch, like centre back and lb/lwb, for example, the midfield is something that needs to be addressed urgently, due to all the uncertainties that are taking place at present.
If Chelsea want to go toe to toe with the best teams in the Premier League like Arsenal and Manchester City, they need to have at least 4-5 reliable midfielders that they can count on throughout the season. Jordan Henderson is expected to join the club, although the 36-year-old is not expected to see too much game time.
Instead, his main role will be to guide the young players and help Chelsea off the pitch by instilling discipline and professionalism in a team that desperately needs that. The best teams don’t just have really good starting midfielders, but they also have really competent and solid backups. This is why it is vital for the Blues to strengthen the middle of the park even more through the transfer window, especially because Lavia has shown time and time again that he can’t be relied upon due to his severe injury history and Essugo still has a lot of room for improvement.