Matheus Nunes is one of European football’s best young stars, so it’s no surprise that Chelsea reportedly have the Portuguese youngster on their radar for this summer.
Since new American co-owner Todd Boehly arrived at Stamford Bridge, there’s been lots of speculation as to who will be joining Thomas Tuchel’s side this summer, with the Blues already confirming the signing of Raheem Sterling from Man City and Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli.
The 23-year-old was a key player for Sporting CP last season, making 33 appearances in central midfield for the Portuguese giants, who also wears the number eight shirt.
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If Nunes joins what is already a very promising young Chelsea midfield, how much of an impact will he make in his debut season in the Premier League? We simulated the 2022/23 with Nunes in the hands of Tuchel to see how he fared.
We 'signed' Nunes for Chelsea in the 2022 summer transfer window
For this simulation to happen, we used the in-game editor for Football Manager 2022 to allow the transfer of Nunes to Chelsea at the start of the 2022 summer transfer window.
Judging by his in-game attributes, Nunes can use his superb Technique (16), Vision (15), First Touch (15), Dribbling (15) and Passing (14) to progress the ball forward from the centre of midfield, where he plays best. He’s also capable of playing slightly further up the pitch behind a lone striker, something that Tuchel looks to have done by playing him both centrally and behind Timo Werner across the season in the simulation.
With 11 goal contributions in 32 appearances across all competitions in his debut season for the Blues, the 23-year-old was evidently used in rotation between Jorginho, N’Golo Kanté and Mateo Kovačić.
Despite this rotational decision-making from Tuchel, he still averaged a 7.34 rating over the season, the highest in the Chelsea squad and ahead of Kante (7.30), Jorginho (7.23), Kai Havertz (7.19) and Mason Mount (7.18). At the end of the season, FM22 released a best XI from the Chelsea squad, using player statistics, league data and other measures to complete the team. Here’s Chelsea’s Best XI for the 2022/23 season according to our simulation.
Full Chelsea Best XI (4-3-3): Mendy; James, Azpilicueta, Silva, Chilwell; Jorginho, Nunes, Kanté; Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Werner.
The only new signing to make the team is Nunes, who slots in next to Kante - the most surprising addition to the Best XI is Callum Hudson-Odoi who lines up opposite Mount as part of the front three.
So, Nunes had a good individual season but how much did it affect Chelsea’s campaign?
Chelsea’s 2022/23 season overall from the simulation
Domestically, Chelsea had an up-and-down campaign. Fourth place in the Premier League behind winners Manchester City, runners-up Liverpool and third-place Manchester United isn’t a terrible result, but Tuchel would’ve wanted more from his players.
The simulation gave one more win to Chelsea than last season but they lost seven more games across the simulation. They also conceded eight more goals and scored 19 less than last season - something that Nunes didn't particularly contribute to though.
In the cup competitions, the Blues were knocked out of the Carabao Cup on penalties by Aston Villa after finishing 2-2 in the Fifth Round. Their FA Cup exit was dramatically worse though - a loss on penalties to newly-promoted Bournemouth meant the Blues crashed out of the competition early with London neighbours West Ham eventually lifting the trophy following a 1-0 win over United.
It also couldn't get much worse on the European stage - Chelsea finished bottom of Group G behind winners Real Madrid, runners-up AC Milan and third-place RB Leipzig. It marked the first time in the club's history they'd exited the group stage of the Champions League bottom.
Overall, Nunes had a great individual season, but was unable to turn it into much when concerning Chelsea's competitions. If Chelsea want to compete this season, a few more signings may be required for Tuchel's side. But this simulation suggests that he'd be a key player for the Blues should he sign ahead of next campaign.
Let us know if you'd want Chelsea to pursue Nunes in the comments below!
