It may be a parable of Todd Boehly’s Chelsea, a club where it is possible to have both too many players and too few, where footballers are bought but they can’t be used, where strategy was eschewed in favour of scattergun spending.
When Real Madrid visit Stamford Bridge, there would be strong grounds for Frank Lampard to select Benoit Badiashile, except for one minor issue: he is ineligible. The Frenchman is one of the few signings to make a promising start to a Chelsea career this season, but he is unavailable. As Kalidou Koulibaly is injured, as Ben Chilwell is suspended, as Levi Colwill is out on loan along with Malang Sarr, Chelsea’s sextet of left-sided defenders is reduced to one: Marc Cucurella, a disastrous signing and, indeed, a reason why their contingent is so depleted.
