Matt Law of the Telegraph revealed unfettered spending from Todd Boehly left Chelsea with a ‘bloated’ first-team squad in January. Chelsea signed six senior players in the winter but only sold one, so Graham Potter was in a lose-lose situation.
Ins
- Enzo Fernandez (£106.8m from Benfica)
- Mykhaylo Mudryk (£88.5m from Shakhtar Donetsk)
- Benoît Badiashile (£35m from AS Monaco)
- Noni Madueke (£29m from PSV Eindhoven)
- Malo Gusto (£26.3m from Olympique Lyonnais)
- Joao Felix (£9.7m loan fee from Atletico Madrid)
Outs
- Jorginho (£12m to Arsenal)
Law says dressing rooms at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground weren’t big enough for all the players to fit. This meant some had to change in corridors and sit on the floor. It also meant Badiashile was left out of the Champions League squad despite recently joining for £35m.
Chelsea struggled with Boehly transfer policy
Boehly can’t be accused of not investing in Chelsea’s success, spending more than £1bn on new players. But the Blues’ co-owner has been reckless when looking at Chelsea’s transfer activity.
Chelsea’s most-used starting eleven in the Premier League last season was Kepa Arrizabalaga; Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella; Enzo Fernandez, Ruben Loftus-Cheek; Noni Madueke, Mason Mount, Raheem Sterling; Kai Havertz.
Their most-used starting eleven in the league this season is Robert Sanchez; Reece James, Axel Disasi, Thiago Silva, Marc Cucurella; Moises Caiceco, Enzo Fernandez; Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher, Raheem Sterling; Nicolas Jackson.
That’s seven different first-team players, so it’s easy to see why results have been mixed in the last two years. The squad hasn’t been able to settle, and Chelsea have gone through five difference caretakers/managers in this period.
Manager merry-go-round hasn’t helped situation
- Frank Lampard (July 4, 2019 – January 25, 2021)
- Thomas Tuchel (January 26, 2021 – September 7, 2022)
- Graham Potter (September 8, 2022 – April 2, 2023)
- Bruno Saltor (April 2, 2023 – April 6, 2023)
- Frank Lampard (April 6, 2023 – May 28, 2023)
- Mauricio Pochettino (July 1, 2023 – present)
Graham Potter was a victim of the chaos under Boehly, being unable to mould the squad before losing his job. Frank Lampard couldn’t steady the ship after succeeding the 48-year-old either. Pochettino isn’t faring much better than either coach, but Chelsea are showing some potential.
The Blues have taken points off Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City this season. But they’ve also lost to West Ham United, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Brentford. Boehly is course-correcting regarding transfers and Law says Pochettino doesn’t want a bigger squad in January.
So Chelsea are learning from their mistakes.
