A former Chelsea scout has revealed that the Blues came close to signing a now-Manchester United defender before he made the move to Old Trafford.
Five seasons ago, right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka was making waves in the Crystal Palace XI, playing 35 games in the 2018-19 Premier League season to establish himself as one of the country's most promising full-backs.
Wan-Bissaka's displays in an Eagles jersey convinced Man United to splash out £47m on his signature in the summer of 2019, since when the 26-year-old has contributed two goals and 13 assists in 185 games for the Red Devils.
Consistency and fitness has been hard to come by for Wan-Bissaka in recent times, and his attacking qualities are often criticised, but he has been regarded as one of the best one-on-one defenders in the Premier League while at the Theatre of Dreams.
Man United recently activated an extension in Wan-Bissaka's deal to keep him at the club until the summer of 2025, but the former England youth international could have ended up sporting the jersey of one of the Red Devils' Big Six rivals.
© Reuters
Chelsea chose Reece James over Wan-Bissaka
Speaking to the Rising Ballers YouTube channel, ex-Chelsea scout Yousuf Sajjad revealed that Wan-Bissaka was on Chelsea's radar, but the Blues ultimately decided to stick with academy product and future captain Reece James.
"At the time, it was an area we had players who were going to be potentially moving on up the age groups. Then it became about who is the best option from a long-term standpoint. That was when it became a discussion about was it worth going and investing that amount of money in a position where we have Reece James," Sajjad said.
"To be fair, the choice was made that we would stick with Reece James. In the end – not that money was ever an issue – but we could at best maybe spend this elsewhere.
"The difference between the two at the time, if we were to bring in Aaron Wan-Bissaka at the time, it's not like he was miles ahead of Reece James and he's going to make steps bigger than him. You then ask yourself: 'What's worthwhile for us to do?'".
How do Reece James and Wan-Bissaka compare?
© Reuters
The Wan-Bissaka vs. James debate is a particularly intriguing one, as neither man has been able to string a consistent run of matches together this season due to injuries, playing just 34 contests between them.
Only nine of those appearances belong to James, who is two years Wan-Bissaka's junior and has played 20 fewer Premier League matches since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, albeit with a far better attacking return.
While Wan-Bissaka has two goals and 10 assists to show from that timeframe, James has scored seven of his own while setting up 15 more, thereby notching 10 more direct involvements than his compatriot.
The Chelsea man also boasts a marginally better passing rate of 83.9% compared to Wan-Bissaka's 81.9% completion over the past five seasons - as per FBref - although his defensive contributions are dwarfed by the ex-Palace youngster.
Wan-Bissaka has won 218 tackles compared to 111 for James, in addition to besting the Chelsea captain on interceptions by 217 to 71, but James has won more aerial duels and has been capped on 16 occasions by England, 16 more than his Red Devils colleague.
Ben Knapton
