Chelsea were amongst a number of clubs who were ready to battle it out for Sevilla midfielder Steven N’Zonzi during the January Transfer window, according to reports from Calcio Mercato

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were also said to be prepared to make a bid for the Frenchman.

Formerly of Blackburn Rovers and subsequently Stoke City, N’Zonzi has excelled at Sevilla since his move in the summer of 2015, winning the Europa League in his first season with the La Liga side.

His good form has continued to soar as the midfielder has become a key member in a Sevilla squad that are not only progressing well in the Champion’s League, but also looking like potential challengers to the Spanish crown, sitting only two and three points Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.

The big clubs will almost certainly come calling again for N’Zonzi’s impressive performances continue, and especially if Sevilla are able to grab themselves a trophy, or even two, come the end of the season.

Here are five reasons Chelsea should revive their interest in the French midfielder this summer …

Bargain Price

£25.5 million might seem like a hefty price for the former Blackburn man, but in reality that is a bargain for a player of N’Zonzi’s calibre. Considering Everton just paid £24 million for Frenchman Morgan Schneiderlin and United near enough £90 million for France international Paul Pogba, that is about as cheap as a high-quality French midfielder will come these days.

Should N’Zonzi rejoin the Premier League with the probable Champions in the summer, it is likely the Blues will also have to sell to make room for him in the squad. Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic would likely command higher fees than that of N’Zonzi, and hence it could be a win-win situation for Chelsea.

Premier League Experience

It is always one of the biggest problems when signing a player from a European or International league: having them adapt to the Premier League in due time to become an effective spend of club money. Some do it well, some not so well.

This is a problem that would almost certainly be surpassed with Steven N’Zonzi. The Frenchman has six years of Premier League experience under his belt already with former clubs Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City, making somewhat of a veteran of the league already. The transition should be easy.

Prime Time

There is absolutely no questioning it, Steven N’Zonzi is in the prime of his career, both form wise and age wise. His form over the past season and a half for Sevilla has been nothing short of terrific, as he has put in commanding displays in the centre of the park for his side week-in wee-out since his move last summer. He played a phenomenal 46 times last year and made the Europa League team of the season.

While he has plenty of experience under his belt, the midfielder is still only 28 years-old, meaning he would be providing the Blues with at least another 3/4 years of high-quality service should he join.

N’Golo Kante

N’Golo Kante has been the man cited with Chelsea’s resurgent performances this season, and as well with the demise of his former club Leicester such has been his impact at Stamford Bridge. The little Frenchman is the first name on Chelsea’s team sheet, however, one thing that does seem to rotate more than any other position in the Blues line-up is the man next to him in the middle of the park.

Matic? Fabregas? Lotus-Cheek? Why not N’Zonzi? Kante’s international counterpart would be the perfect compliment the star midfielder. While Kante does his usual trick of covering more ground than humanly possible and doing the ‘dirty work’, N’Zonzi is an adept distributor of the ball, capable of powering forward too.

Formation

A big part of Chelsea’s brilliant form this season has been their formation, that being 3-4-3. Of course there are other reasons, namely the signing of N’Golo Kante, the resurgence of Diego Costa and Eden Hazard and of course the appointment of Antonio Conte, but this is certainly a biggy.

Premier League clubs just do not know how to cope with the system bought in by former Juventus manager Conte, so it is unlikely to change anytime soon. N’Zonzi slots right into the formation perfectly in defensive midfield.

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