Such is the quick start to life in football that Todd Boehly has had to make at Chelsea, his early indoctrination to the European transfer market has been frantic. With little time left this summer, there's no sign of it letting up either.
Boehly is still trying to get in at least two new players with the possibility that four more enter the doors at Stamford Bridge. Amongst those are Wesley Fofana, who is all but a done deal, and Anthony Gordon, who may well be subject to another offer from the Blues. The other two names are currently most likely to be Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Wilfried Zaha.
After grinding out a 2-1 home win against Leicester City at the weekend to atone for a shocking display at Elland Road, Thomas Tuchel now has less than a week to properly stock up his squad with attacking reinforcements likely to be needed given the exodus that could yet happen with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hakim Ziyech waiting for moves away.
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With these two players both pushing to leave the club for next season at least, that could leave Chelsea with only Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic remaining from last year's attackers. An overhaul that has seen Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku leave already this summer. Boehly knew it would be a big job, one that could have taken up several transfer windows but by and large he has already completed a brief transition in just a matter of months.
When looking around the Premier League, it took Liverpool one and a half years under Jurgen Klopp before he guided them to the desired improvements, Manchester City fell well short of the league title in Pep Guardiola's first campaign, Arsenal had to take a prolonged period out of the Champions League for their rebuild and Manchester United simply haven't got out of their tough run since Sir Alex Ferguson left.
These examples have always loomed for Chelsea under the tightrope that managers walked for Roman Abramovich. They were what the Blues didn't want and said they couldn't afford to become. To some extent they have already gone against that, being unable to sustain previous high levels and not putting up a serious title fight for five years.
The culmination of instinctive transfers without much strategy and the lack of a director of football following months of sanctions preventing them from discussing deals has meant that Chelsea felt very much behind going into the window. However, their strong work under Boehly has arguably elevated them above Erik ten Hag's side already.
The Red Devils have also made their interest in signing Aubameyang public this summer but have never been as close as Chelsea are, not making an offer for the Gabon striker. Boehly might not have the structural support around him to make his interim role a long-term one but he has acted with authority this summer, not being taken advantage of.
Chelsea are now feeling the rewards as United scamper to their own forward additions. Gianluca Di Marzio reports that United had made a fresh approach for the player but his heart is set on Chelsea and Champions League football, leaving it now to the clubs to reach an agreement.
Although the deal isn't done and Chelsea would have liked the Barcelona forward to be on their books to play against Leicester and Southampton this week, the eagerness to make decisive moves in the market has already paid off. Boehly elevated Chelsea above United in the pecking order to sign Frenkie de Jong earlier in the window and has now managed to put himself in pole position to acquire one of Tuchel's key targets for the remaining window.
The strategy has not always been clear to see at Chelsea this summer and things may yet trip up, but when it comes to doing an interim job, Boehly has already beaten much more experienced candidates at Manchester United to getting deals progressed.
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