by Caleb Sage

Marco van Ginkel a very promising youngster. Some of you may have seen him play during this year’s Euro u21 tournament or during Chelsea’s pre-season tours. So who exactly is he and what does he bring to Chelsea? I’m sure many people don’t even know he is a Chelsea player yet considering the only transfer talk this summer have been about Bale, Suarez and Rooney.

Marco was signed from Vitesse on the 5 July for a fee believed to be in the region of £9 million. He describes himself as “a box-to-box player” who “covers a lot of metres and can score a goal”. Van Ginkel was voted Dutch talent of the year for the 2012-2013 season a very exceptional award in the Netherlands that the likes of Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder have won in the past. The 2012-2013 season also saw Marco gain his first senior cap for the Netherlands squad.

So what does Van Ginkel bring to Chelsea? Well first of all With Ramires, Lampard, Mikel, Luiz as an option and Essien returning back from his loan spell at Real Madrid is Marco even needed? Well I would say yes. And why you may ask, what does he bring to the club? Well first of the all the lad is very athletic. Quick with a very high level of stamina. Very ideal for a box to box midfielder. The boy is also a good tackler. During the games against Inter Milan, AC Milan and Real Madrid the kid showed he’s not afraid to throw in a tackle against guys like Ronaldo. In fact most the time his tackles were accurate, effective and one even led to a goal. I think this is a good sign for any Chelsea fan. At times last season it looked like the two playing in front of the Centre-backs failed to give sufficient support and cover when defending.

Another issue with the two holding players last season were the pace of their game and passing. Too often they failed to give the ball to the three attackers in front of them quick enough ultimately slowing down the play. From what I have seen of van Ginkel is that when he receives it he plays the ball quick and forwards. He goes for one touch passes and always makes himself available after making the pass which helps play move much quicker. Now this could easily change when Marco goes against Premier league opposition as teams in the top flight press higher and don’t give you as much time on the ball so that’s one to watch.

Where does van Ginkel rank come Sunday against Hull? Does he start? I would say yes. Both Lampard and Mikel haven’t got enough minutes under their belt. Ramires has had a long break off and has been great during pre-season so I reckon he’ll grab one of the holding spots. That leaves van Ginkel and Essien and I think van Ginkel deserves it just that little more. Last season we saw Lampard occupy one of the midfield roles very often. I don’t think he’ll play as often as he did last season. However I can’t see van Ginkel completely making that position his. I still believe Lampard will offer Chelsea goals this season which Chelsea will definitely need until they buy another Centre-forward.

Chelsea fans are you pleased with the signing of Marco van Ginkel? Have you been impressed with him during pre-season? And does he start against the newly named Hull City Tigers and if so who does he partner?