OSCAR dos Santos Emboaba Júnior, to give his full name, arrived this summer from Internacional and was promptly given Didier Drogba’s number 11 shirt. If the diminutive Brazilian can achieve half of what the Ivorian legend managed, he will be a rip-roaring success.

The first I heard of Oscar being on the move last summer was when rumours started about a possible switch to Tottenham, shortly after Andre Villas-Boas took over. Inter’s demands proved too steep for Spurs, so Chelsea stepped in and got him for €25m (not pounds, as was reported in England). Smartly, the deal was pushed through before the Olympics started and good thing it was too. His outstanding performances for the Seleção may have seen his price sky-rocket.

Oscar barely featured in his early weeks at the club, before making his first start against Juventus in the number 10 role in Di Matteo’s 4-2-3-1. He has since played in that position in every start he has made, but his outstanding all-round skill set means he is comfortable in the wide positions, and could eventually play in a deeper role too (and did so when Chelsea were trailing against Reading and went for broke, with Mikel subbed).

This is something that could be seen more often when the side is chasing games; one of the defensive midfielders is removed, and Oscar drops deeper.

When you compare Oscar to the stereotypical Brazilian attacking midfielders, you would expect someone who does not like to get stuck in and work hard for the cause without the ball. The player whose place he took in Brazil’s line-up, Ganso, might fall in to that category. Oscar mostly certainly does not.

Against Juventus, he was tasked with disrupting Andrea Pirlo, a job he fulfilled extremely well (besides scoring two goals, the second seeing him skip away from Pirlo to score a pearler). After that game, Buffon said: “Oscar turned on a sixpence and put the ball under the bar. I won’t say it’s nice to concede a goal, but it’s still nice to be a part of a great goal like that.”

When Chelsea travelled to The Emirates to face Arsenal, many expected Oscar to drop to the bench with a defensive wide player like Ryan Bertrand preferred. However, Oscar started and did a great job in keeping Arsenal’s fulcrum, Mikel Arteta very quiet. Arteta averaged 91 passes per match prior to facing Chelsea. Thanks to Oscar’s positioning (and occasional tactical fouling), Arteta had a relatively quiet game, with only 63 passes made. This feature of Oscar’s game continued against Nordsjælland, with four tackles and four interceptions. This was crucial for the team’s attacking transitions as he tended to win the ball high up the pitch, and then send Mata or Torres away on the counter-attack.

With big games coming up against Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool, Oscar may be tasked with a similar role, especially considering how influential Michael Carrick and Joe Allen are in initiating attacks for the latter two teams.

In summary, Oscar is a modern playmaker. He contributes to four phases of play: when Chelsea have the ball; when the opponents have the ball; on defensive transitions; and on attacking transitions. He can even be seen defending set-pieces. It says a lot about his character that he is willing to press, to tackle and to foul occasionally for the cause so early in to his career in England, and at the age of 21. Who wouldn’t love a player with his talent and football brain? Chelsea have bought a superb talent and character this summer.