Chelsea's transfer activity so far this summer has been dominated by players that have either left of are set to leave, but there is plenty of time remaining for new head coach Mauricio Pochettino to bring in one or two players of his own.

The Blues may be well stocked in attack, though the likely departures of Mason Mount and Kai Havertz will still leave a gap to be filled in terms of a creative player.

Plenty of names have been linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge, including the likes of Jonathan David and Wilfried Zaha, but another candidate has emerged that may just be an ideal fit in West London.

It could be argued that Chelsea have never truly replaced Eden Hazard since he joined Real Madrid in 2019, but versatile Ajax forward Mohammed Kudus could be just that man.

According to Chelsea football writer Simon Phillips, via his Substack page, the Blues have a serious interest in signing Kudus and have made him their priority option in terms of a number 10.

What can Ajax forward Mohammed Kudus bring to Chelsea?

Kudus can indeed play as a number 10, but as pointed out by Phillips, the left-footed speedster can play out on the right – where he is given licence to cut inside – and through the middle, whether as a centre-forward or playing just off one.

Indeed, that is much the same as Hazard, who showed across seven years at Chelsea that he was comfortable playing in an array of positions, namely out on the left and also through the middle.

It is not just positionally the pair are alike, though. Indeed, the comparisons grow stronger when looking at their dribbling stats. Taking the figures from Hazard's final Premier League season at Chelsea in 2018-19, he was successful with 67.32% of his take-ons, as per Squawka.

That is a staggeringly similar number to Kudus with Ajax in Eredivisie last season at 67.91%, with the 22-year-old unsuccessful from 2.1 take-on attempts per game, compared to 2.2 for Hazard.

They also have similar passing accuracies across those respective seasons (84.33% for Hazard, 87.6% for Kudus) and got away similar numbers of shots on target (1.4 v 1.5).

The comparisons do not stop there, either, as Hazard scored 0.5 goals per game from outside the box – the exact same figure as Kudus, though the latter preferred to use his left foot and the Belgian his right.

As highlighted by Independent writer Karl Matchett, Kudus is a "sensational" and "magical" player who, beyond being one of the best dribblers around, is also tactically aware, has an eye for goal and is aggressive in winning the ball back.

It is that last part that sets Kudus apart from Hazard. The Ghana international averaged 5.5 ball recoveries per game last season, whereas Hazard's figure was down at 3.2 in the 2018-19 season.

Many attackers have arrived at Stamford Bridge over the past four years with the promise of becoming the next Hazard, but in Kudus – expected to be available for around £40m – they may have finally found just that.