The first of Chelsea's new signings to be rated sees Brazilian full-back Filipe Luis earn an incremental upgrade from 82 to 83. The rating is a small acknowledgment of the player's increased profile but also the fact that, at 29, the idea of his making a huge jump in ability from one year to the next at his age is pretty unlikely. Nevertheless, Chelsea fans have many reasons to be pleased. For one thing, the Blues finally have a full-back with strong offensive capabilities to replace Ashley Cole while complementing the more defensive-minded Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta. That's not to say he isn't also very solid in performing his duties at the back, but expect Mourinho to deploy him mainly in games where his accurate crosses from deep can take advantage of Diego Costa's height and physical heft. That said, 83 feels a little low considering Luis has been an outstanding if unheralded talent on the European stage for some years now. He may not have travelled with the Brazil squad to the World Cup, but Scolari will surely be questioning that decision after Real Madrid's Marcelo struggled with defensive and mental indiscipline where Luis has proven himself the model of consistency over his six years in Spain. While he may still be underrated, it will be interesting to see which of his individual stats have been given a boost as there's an outstanding chance he'll be playing a big part in Mourinho's push for the title this season.
28-year old English writer with a borderline obsessive passion for films, videogames, Chelsea FC, incomprehensible words and indefensible puns. Follow me on Twitter if you like infrequent outbursts of absolute drivel.
