Chelsea look set to add Monaco's £35million rated Tiemoue Bakayoko to their ranks as they look to bolster their squad for next season's Champions League return.

Bakayoko is flying over to London this weekend with a move to Chelsea appearing imminent, Sportsmail understands. 

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is a fan of the 22-year-old, who would fit into their midfield alongside the ever-reliable N'Golo Kante. The fall guy in that scenario would appear to be Kante's regular midfield partner Nemanja Matic.

Matic was not at his best last season as he was outshone by the tireless Kante but will Bakayoko offer that much of an improvement?

Assessing their stats from last season makes for interesting reading. Matic is clearly the more fluent passer of the two. Bakayoko played nearly 500 less minutes than Matic last season, and played 496 less passes. Their accuracy is similar both clocking above 87 per cent, with Matic marginally superior.

In terms of successful passes per minute Matic makes 0.60 with the Monaco man clocking 0.53. That increased production brought Matic six more assists, seven to Bakayoko's one. 

However, that is where the positive news ends for the Chelsea incumbent.

Bakayoko has a clear march on his potential rival on the defensive side of the game. With a more limited role in the Monaco side, Bakayoko bests Matic in terms of tackles, interceptions, clearances and duel success.

Perhaps the most startling figure is the difference in duels won by Bakayoko. Despite a lot less game time, the 22-year-old has 99 more successful duels than Matic.

To put that in context, Bakayoko is making 9.81 tackles over 90 minutes whereas as Matic registers 4.77.

What that all shows is that these two have different strengths and if Bakayoko is wearing blue next season Conte will have a different weapon at his disposal.

Matic is more creative from that deeper position and does less defensively. That is in part because he has Kante alongside him doing the leg work.

Bakayoko appears more similar to his France international team-mate. Still a fair passer, his strengths lie in winning the ball back in midfield.

If Conte gets his man he will be adding more strength in depth in that holding position but should the game require more guile then Matic should hold the advantage. 

The signing of Bakayoko will enable the likes of Eden Hazard to express themselves in the final third - an asset that the Italian will love as he seeks to defend the Premier League title next season.