The 2022 World Cup has provided Chelsea and Todd Boehly with plenty of opportunities to conduct scouting missions as Graham Potter hopes to bolster his squad ahead of the remainder of the 2022/23 season. One of those targets is Brighton star Leandro Trossard who has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge following his relationship with Potter that developed on the South coast.
Potter left Brighton at the start of September for Chelsea following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel and oversaw six wins from his first nine games, but a ten-game unbeaten streak was prevented by the 47-year-olds former club where Trossard was the star of the show.
The 27-year-old has mastered the attacking left wing-back position, where Potter prefers to deploy natural wingers, however Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic have struggled with the demands the role requires, making Trossard and obvious transfer target.
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Chelsea legend Eden Hazard was preferred to Trossard in the Belgian attack for their World Cup group stage opener, but the versatile Brighton man was introduced in place of Hazard just beyond the hour mark, with Trossard immediately improving a blunt Belgium attack.
Despite his cameo, Trossard was again left on the bench for Roberto Martinez's side when they faced Morocco a few days later. Canada were unable to punish a drab Belgium, but Morocco succeeded where they failed winning 2-0.
For their final group stage clash, where a win was needed to qualify, Trossard was named in the starting XI with BBC pundit Alan Shearer detailing his Premier League stats in the hopes of seeing him have a significant impact in attack for Belgium.
He said: "One of the reasons he has brought Trossard into this team is to give them legs. He’s got seven goals this season, hat-trick at Anfield, goals against Chelsea and City, so he will give them legs in forward positions."
The performances of Michy Batshuayi and many of the other Belgium attackers meant Trossard's opportunity was deserved, but he fell to the same fate of many of his compatriots with a poor display in front of goal as Croatia dominated the first half.
Martinez did not hesitate with his substitutions either, with Trossard withdrawn for Thorgan Hazard just before the hour mark after he attempted zero dribbles while on the pitch which saw him, according to FotMob, ranked as the second-lowest rated Belgium starter with a rating of 6.5, only higher than Dries Mertens who was awarded a 6.4 rating.
Shearer's Trossard claim was justifiable given his displays this season but he was unable to prevent Belgium advancing into the World Cup knockout stages. Boehly and Potter are unlikely to be put off by Trossard's displays in Qatar as he has been a constant bright spark for the Seagulls this season.
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