As the panic sets in and Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali work out how to repair the damage they have caused during the past year, the biggest mistake Chelsea’s beleaguered owners could make would be to kid themselves that a season of astonishing excess and underachievement is not their fault.
Perhaps the finger could be pointed at Thomas Tuchel for his reluctance to embrace a new way of working last summer. Perhaps it is on Graham Potter for failing to make sense of his ridiculously bloated squad; or Bruno Saltor for failing to win his one game in charge; or Frank Lampard for failing to beat Real Madrid two seconds after coming in as interim head coach.
Then again, what about the players? Boehly went into the dressing room the other day to tell them the season has been “embarrassing”. Why can’t they live up to their overinflated fees? Why can’t any of the forwards score? Why don’t we just chuck another £500m at it this summer?
Yet Boehly and Eghbali should pay close attention to Thiago Silva’s analysis after Madrid ended Chelsea’s season by dumping them out of the Champions League on Tuesday. “The first step has been made – an incorrect step, but it has been made,” the centre-back told Brazil’s TNT Sports. “It’s a hard period with a lot of indecision. A change of ownership, new players arriving. We need to stop and put a strategy in place, otherwise next season we could make the same mistake.”
The future starts now. Boehly and Eghbali have a chance to start over and they must accept this is not going to be a straightforward rebuild. There could be some short-term pain. The rest of the season is going to feel miserable and demotivating. But there is a chance for Chelsea to move on. They can start to plan if they use these weeks to identify their next manager and they can also blast away the uncertainty if they listen to Silva saying there was not enough space in the dressing room after huge fees were spent on a host of players in January.
Clearly the priority should not be further signings. This squad somehow needs to be pared back, not least because Romelu Lukaku and Levi Colwill are about to return from their loans, Malo Gusto is set to arrive from Lyon to provide cover for Reece James at right-back and a deal has been agreed to sign the RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku. There are also plans to sign a goalkeeper to replace Kepa Arrizabalaga and Édouard Mendy.
Good luck to the next manager. Chelsea need to recoup funds and there is talk that almost every player is up for sale. Sources have spoken of panic. Chelsea’s latest accounts revealed losses of £121.3m and a season without the income provided by European football will increase concerns over Financial Fair Play.
Yet the dilemma for Chelsea is how to cut their squad. The financial imbalances in European football could make it hard to shift the expensive misfits. Will Internazionale want another loan for Lukaku? Will Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang look to sit out the final year of his contract?
There are a lot of expensive mistakes to correct. Kalidou Koulibaly has been a disappointment since joining from Napoli last summer, but finding a buyer for the 31-year-old defender would not be simple. Raheem Sterling, who has toiled, is on big wages. Marc Cucurella is a £62m reserve. Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic should find new clubs, but neither winger is likely to fetch a huge fee.
The dysfunction could force Chelsea into making some reluctant sales. Mateo Kovacic’s contract expires in a year and the midfielder has been linked with Manchester City and Bayern Munich. Kai Havertz is restless. Chelsea have to make sure that N’Golo Kanté does not leave on a free.
They also have to think carefully about their academy products. Chelsea are crying out for identity but selling homegrown talents goes down as pure profit in FFP terms. Money talks and Mason Mount looks increasingly likely to join Liverpool, while there will be plenty of takers for Trevoh Chalobah, Conor Gallagher and Colwill. Suitors may be more scarce for Ruben Loftus-Cheek because of his injury record.
Chelsea are insistent that Colwill, who is on loan at Brighton, will not be sold. The defender’s contract expires in two years, with the option of an extra year, and there are plans to use him next season. Yet Colwill may be forgiven for wondering why he should extend when Chelsea have bought another young left-footed centre-back, Benoît Badiashile, to play in his position.
That is a good encapsulation of the lack of logic that will confront Chelsea’s next manager. Too many decisions appear to be made on a whim. It is hard to see what Chelsea gained from sacking Potter and turning to Lampard. It brought them no short-term boost against Madrid and, although Lampard vowed that Chelsea would be back, why should the players listen to him when they know he is unlikely to be around beyond the end of the season?
The search for the next coach has to speed up. Chelsea are whittling the candidates down and sources believe that Julian Nagelsmann has a good chance of being offered the job after positive discussions with the club’s sporting directors, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, last week.
Yet there is no agreement at board level. There will be concern over Nagelsmann’s youth and the manner of his departure from Bayern Munich, so a handful of candidates including Luis Enrique, Rúben Amorim and Mauricio Pochettino are still in the running.
At some point in the near future, though, Chelsea need clarity. The players need to know who will be taking pre-season. Boehly and Eghbali need to prove they know how to take the club forward. They must learn from their hubris. Getting the next appointment right is of paramount importance, but it could depend on Boehly and Eghbali making sure the best person for the job wants to work for them.
