Chelsea supporters had probably assumed the frantic nature of the summer transfer window following the takeover by the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Captial consortium would see a calmer January, where usually deals are sparse and hard to come by.
But as the American-led ownership has already proven to the Premier League and world football, going with the status quo is not the modus operandi.
FYI, take a deep breath before reading this list. In January Chelsea signed a total of eight players: Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana, Andrey Santos, Joao Felix (loan), Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto and finally, Enzo Fernandez.
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That expenditure is estimated to be more than £280million on new additions, with the one permanent outgoing being Jorginho to Arsenal on deadline day for £10million with £2million add-ons.
In comparison to European leagues, Chelsea spent more than the Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and La Liga combined. According to Deloitte , Serie A reported their steepest year-on-year decline in gross transfer spend, falling 84%, from £163million in 2022 to £26.5million in 2023.
There was a 63% decline in La Liga from last year too from £70million to £26.5million. Bundesliga only had a total sum of £4million - compare that to the total Premier League sum of £815million. The disparity is clear and it is understandable why alarm bells are ringing loudly outside of England.
But for Chelsea, the spending, although lavish, has attempted to improve Graham Potter’s dysfunctional squad. Badiashile offers a ready-made defensive option who is comfortable in a possession-dominant side, Mudryk and Madueke present dynamic wide options, and Gusto, although not arriving until the summer, fills the gap of subsequent cover for Reece James fans have wanted to see.
Above all else, the British record signing of Enzo Fernandez from Benfica addresses the area of Chelsea’s squad that has been mostly overlooked in the market since 2019 when Mateo Kovacic joined permanently from Real Madrid.
Fernandez is a huge get given his steeply rising reputation on the European stage, only bolstered by his influence for Argentina in their World Cup-winning campaign in Qatar. In terms of his passing quality, Fernandez is the top-ranked player in the Primeira Liga this season for passes completed, progressive passes, successful switches of play, successful long passes and passes into the final third.
Since the departure of Cesc Fabregas in 2019, Chelsea have cried out for more creativity from their central midfield. Fernandez can hopefully offer that now, with years of development ahead in his eight-and-a-half-year contract.
Todd Boehly and Co. certainly do like their amortisation. In response to Financial Fair Play concerns, handing out these longer deals means that Chelsea will be paying these transfer fees for the likes of Mudryk and Fernandez over a longer period of time. As expertly detailed by the football financial expert Swiss Ramble in his exorbitantly detailed Substack piece earlier this month, the media perception created by some loud pundits that Boehly is brazenly spending on whatever he feels like is not accurate, even if you do find the size of it eyebrow-raising.
There also is a method behind the madness for not only spending this amount now but also in the profile of player Chelsea has now intensely focused on acquiring. Since last summer, Chelsea have bought an XI of players under the age of 25 and contracted until at least 2028.
The intention is clear, dramatically lowering the age of the current squad, hoping to invest for the long-term with players whose value could feasibly increase in the upcoming years. For the likes of Fernandez that is probably the steepest test, but for Gabriel Slonina, Wesley Fofana, Badiashile, Gusto, Santos, Carney Chukwuemeka, Mudryk, Madueke and Fofana, that is attainable.
That does not even include the academy players to be integrated or ones already under long contracts like Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah and Armando Broja.
Frontloading the investment in the first two windows will hopefully lessen the need to reach into those pockets so frequently again in the upcoming years. There also is a very real possibility Chelsea miss out on Champions League qualification this season, the first time that has happened since 2018. That in itself not only comes with very real financial complications but could rule Chelsea out of the race for some of their future targets when competing with domestic and European competitors in negotiations.
Chelsea should know more than most that spending is not the cure for all of your problems. The last five years should have been proof enough. But this new ownership, bolstered by a group of scouting and transfer experts recruited since last summer clearly have a bold vision for the future.
Whether it will fail or not remains the biggest question. But flippantly saying there isn’t a plan might be too simplistic and you cannot accuse the new owners of lacking the ambition to improve Chelsea’s current situation.
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