Following a surprise title victory, and the departure of one of the club’s greatest ever players in John Terry, it’s time for Chelsea to move from a building job to the real deal, after being dragged down a lot by the catastrophic mess that Jose Mourinho left the club in when he was sacked in December 2015.
Under Antonio Conte, Chelsea have been outstanding, racking up a record 30 victories on their way to a comfortable title win. However, with Champions League football returning to Stamford Bridge in the 2017/18 season, the club has to get this transfer window right, to go from champions of England to European challengers, as they were from 2004 to 2014.
Whether you’d like to admit or not, it’s hard to argue that having no European football in the 2016/17 gave Chelsea a major advantage in the Premier League over their rivals, aside from Liverpool. It allowed them to avoid major rotation, and Conte was fortunate that, aside from the odd game, he had pretty much a full squad to pick from throughout the campaign, with only the odd injury effecting his players. This meant that us as fans could know pretty much exactly what the starting line-up would be for the weekend’s game, with Conte’s first choice XI becoming very clear from October onwards. However, this luxury may not occur next season, with rotation becoming more common as the players will need improved fitness from playing no midweek games in 16/17. Chelsea often didn’t look at their best when key squad members were missing from the side- with clear examples being the 2-1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace when Victor Moses was injured and replaced at right wing back by Pedro, and the 2-0 defeat at Manchester United, in which Asmir Begović and Kurt Zouma deputised for Thibaut Courtois and Marcos Alonso, with disastrous consequences. A bigger squad is needed for next season, and it’s up to the manager and the board whether they’ll invest to get these players, or put faith in either the players loaned out last season, or young players that have earned their chance at trying to earn a first team place.
So far for Chelsea this summer, there have been two names on everyone’s lips: Tiemoue Bakayoko, and Romelu Lukaku. The French midfielder Bakayoko looks set to join the blues for roughly £35 million from Ligue 1 Champions Monaco, after a strong season domestically and in the Champions League. And he’s certainly a player who fits the mould as a player who’d fit in at Stamford Bridge, as he is a tall, strong, and powerful defensive midfielder, similar to the likes of Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel, and Nemanja Matić, all of whom have had successful spells at Chelsea. This could mean the departure of Matić, most likely to Manchester United, which wouldn’t exactly disappoint fans of the club as many feel that he is a weak link in the team, as shown by his poor performance in the FA Cup Final defeat to Arsenal, and would be a risk worth taking selling him if the rumoured £40 million price tag is correct. Meanwhile, Chelsea are also in pole position to sign the Belgian striker Lukaku from Everton, for what would be a club record fee in the region of £80 million. Lukaku, who played for Chelsea as a bit part player, and was the subject of multiple spells out on loan, was at the club from 2011 to 2014. He would be brought in to replace star striker Diego Costa, Chelsea’s top goalscorer for the past 3 seasons, who was told by manager Antonio Conte that he wasn’t in his plans for next season, much to the surprise of the board and fans alike. And while the potential signing of Lukaku has certainly split opinion, he is a natural and consistent goalscorer, that Chelsea have been crying out for ever since both Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard left the club, which only Costa has been able to do. Even though these two players would be good additions to the squad, and will most likely perform well for Chelsea, it has left many fans frustrated at the board that they can’t attract bigger names and world class players to the club, especially as these two players would cost over £100 million between them, and see this window as reminiscent of the summer of 2015, in which the club only signed subpar players, and not improving on the squad at all.
As with every transfer window, there is a lot of speculation surrounding Chelsea, as they have been consistently big spenders since Roman Abramovich’s takeover in 2003. Among the big names linked to the blues have been the Juventus’ Dani Alves and Leonardo Bonucci, the Real Madrid duo Alvaro Morata and James Rodríguez, Sevilla winger Vitolo, and Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez. However, if rumours are to be believed, Chelsea haven’t exactly been going all out to sign these players, with the board resisting making large bids, and instead prioritising getting the signatures of Bakayoko and Lukaku. This has already backfired, as Bayern Munich snapped up the Lyon midfielder Corentin Tolisso, despite Chelsea’s £20 million bid for the player, and the French club’s interest in Chelsea trio Bertrand Traoré, Kurt Zouma, and Loïc Rémy, with the Traore deal for a measly £8 million going through just two weeks after Tolisso’s departure. As fans, people want two things from players: strong performances, effort, and entertainment. And while Lukaku and Bakayoko would do a strong job, and offers Antonio Conte another option going into the new season, Chelsea fans want to sign exciting players, something a bit different, which can create more enthusiasm for next season, something that happened with the signings of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, and Cesc Fàbregas. Fans don’t necessarily want their club’s marquee signing to be a striker who didn’t exactly set the world on fire in his first spell at Stamford Bridge.
However, things are looking up in the last week or so for Chelsea on their path to getting their targets. Reports claim that there is a £61 million deal in place to sign Alex Sandro from Juventus, which would make the Brazilian wing back the most expensive defender of all time. Also, with Liverpool counting themselves out of the running to sign Virgil Van Dijk, that’s a signing that is looking increasingly likely, which would probably see Nathan Aké leave the club on a permanent deal, with Bournemouth interested, and Kurt Zouma sent out on loan. Added to this is bringing in Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero on a free transfer as a replacement for Begović. These are all promising signings, and shows that the club have ambition to improve, and let manager Conte get the best out of his squad to avoid the ‘second season syndrome’ that has affected past Chelsea managers such as Carlo Ancelotti, and Roberto Di Matteo. It’s going to be a tough challenge next season for Chelsea, so it’s massively important that they know who the best players are to bring in, who should move on, and who should be loaned out. Unfortunately though, football isn’t played on paper, and whether Conte can get these players to gel is another question, but if anyone is up to the challenge, it’s him.
