Chelsea’s owners will not demand instant results after their astonishing spending spree during January and intend to give Graham Potter time to mould a winning team.
The £106.8m signing of Enzo Fernández just before the transfer window shut on Tuesday night meant Chelsea’s spending under the new Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital ownership surpassed £500m since last summer and raised questions over how the club will comply with Financial Fair Play regulations. Chelsea have made 16 permanent signings and added two loanees to their bulging squad in the past two windows.
The club have been innovating in an attempt to meet FFP rules. They have handed out eight-and-a-half-year deals to Fernández and Mykhailo Mudryk, allowing them to use the accounting practice of amortisation to balance the books by spreading the cost of big fees over the length of a contract. Uefa has responded by changing the regulations from this summer, with clubs limited to spreading fees over a five-year period, and Chelsea are aware that they are at the start of an extensive rebuild.
There is an excitement at Stamford Bridge after a month in which the club brought in a host of highly promising young players, but there is recognition that a patient approach will be required while Potter works on getting his ideas across to his squad.
Chelsea, who are 10th in the Premier League and out of both domestic cups after a disappointing run, are prepared for the possibility of missing out on the Champions League. The extensive spending has not placed additional pressure on Potter, who took over from Thomas Tuchel last September. The hierarchy plans to give Potter a full pre-season with the team and Chelsea are preparing for a clearout of their underperforming stars this summer.
There was no triumphalism at Stamford Bridge after frenzied negotiations with Benfica led to Chelsea bolstering their midfield with the signing of Fernández. The mood was realistic and it was noted that spending money does not equal success. Chelsea need a dramatic improvement if they are to catch up with leaders Arsenal and reigning champions Manchester City.
That mindset could force Boehly and Clearlake to be ruthless with sales this summer, focusing on shifting some of the old guard. They began the process by selling Jorginho to Arsenal for £12m but attempts to loan Hakim Ziyech to Paris Saint-Germain ended after a technical glitch at Chelsea’s end stopped them from sending the relevant paperwork to the Ligue 1 club. PSG reacted furiously, with Chelsea accepting the blame lies at their end. Ziyech has not nailed down a regular place since joining Chelsea two and a half years ago. The Morocco winger will be available in the summer.
Chelsea, who have agreed a deal to sign Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig in the summer, will also listen to offers for Christian Pulisic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mateo Kovacic and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It remains to be seen if Internazionale will take Romelu Lukaku on loan for another season.
Callum Hudson-Odoi is unlikely to stay at Chelsea once he returns from his loan at Bayer Leverkusen. It is understood that Arsenal are tracking Hudson-Odoi, while Manchester City have been linked with Ben Chilwell. Conor Gallagher could be forced to consider his options after the arrival of Fernández. Raheem Sterling, who joined from Manchester City last summer, remains committed to Chelsea despite the arrival of Mudryk for £88.8m. Mudryk plays in Sterling’s favoured position on the left wing.
Potter has spoken of the need to have a balanced squad and Chelsea could limit themselves to two or three signings in the summer. They built for the future in January. Noni Madueke, Benoît Badiashile, Andrey Santos, Malo Gusto and David Datro Fofana have huge potential. Other than the loan signing of João Félix from Atlético Madrid, though, the most eye-catching additions were Fernández and Mudryk. Arsenal tried to sign Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk but were outflanked by Chelsea.
In Fernández’s case, Chelsea were reluctant to trigger the Argentina midfielder’s £105m release clause in one lump sum. In the end they agreed to give Benfica slightly more than the clause but have staggered the payments. Chelsea hope the World Cup-winner can revive their top-four charge and decided to act now because of concerns that they would face competition for him in the summer.
The club’s most pressing task now is to agree a new deal with Mason Mount, who has 18 months left on his contract. Liverpool could bid for Mount in the summer if talks with the midfielder drag on.
