Amid the chaos of a whirlwind summer that has seen 11 new signings and the appointment of a new manager, Chelsea supporters were offered a glimpse of the potential of their new-look team in a 6-2 demolition of Wolves. While the performance at Molineux wasn’t perfect, it was a statement result so early in the season for Enzo Maresca’s side.
There is talent at Stamford Bridge – lots of it. The issue is there’s too much talent, which is to say there are simply too many players in Chelsea’s bloated squad. 40 signings have been made since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s takeover of the club just two years ago. Almost as many have left. That level of player turnover is clearly unsustainable.
Maresca insists it isn’t much of a problem to him. “It is already the first XI we want, the squad we want,” he said. “I am not working with 42 players, that is something (being talked about) from outside. “I am working with 21 players. Today’s (training) session was with 20 players, yesterday was 21. The other 15-20 are training apart. I don’t see them. It is not a mess that it looks from outside.”
Practically, though, Chelsea need to get rid of several players before Friday’s transfer deadline. One such player is Raheem Sterling who has been left out of Chelsea’s matchday squad for the first two games of the Premier League season. It seems the England international is not in Maresca’s plans.
Alternatively, Chelsea see Sterling’s long-term contract worth £300,000-a-week as a burden and need to offload that in order to meet the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules. The Stamford Bridge club is increasingly operating as more of a player trading platform than a soccer club.
This was clear in the deal that sent Conor Gallagher to Atletico Madrid which allowed Chelsea to bank a €40m fee as pure profit due to the midfielder being an academy product. To sanction this transfer, though, Chelsea had to give Atleti the money to sign Gallagher so bought Joao Felix for a similar fee. On the balance sheet, Chelsea can now spread Felix’s fee over a number of seasons.
Either Chelsea are pioneering a new transfer market approach that will change elite level soccer or they are mortgaging their future and creating problems that will hit them hard at some point down the line. Most people would bet on the latter being the case such has been the Blues’ scattergun approach to signing so many players.
Chelsea might not be done for the summer either. Recent reports claim they are still in the hunt to sign Victor Osimhen with the Nigerian eager to leave Napoli before the transfer window closes. Osimhen would likely cost a fee of close to – or more than – €100m, so it’s unclear how Chelsea would fund such a hefty transfer at this late stage of the summer.
Jadon Sancho is also believed to be on Chelsea’s radar with the winger still on the peripheries at Manchester United. This deal, however, could be similarly structured to the deal that sent Gallagher to Atletico Madrid with United reportedly open to the idea of signing Sterling. This could be a deal that suits all parties.
On the pitch, Maresca is surely satisfied to a point at how Chelsea have started the season. While the Blues suffered defeat to Manchester City on opening weekend, there was enough in their performance to suggest the Italian’s ideas are getting through to his players. City didn’t have it all their own way.
Following on from that, Chelsea put six goals past Wolves in a display that highlighted the attacking quality in the squad. Noni Madueke scored a hat trick and was assisted for all three of his goals by an irrepressible Cole Palmer who might be the best player in the Premier League at this moment in time.
Chelsea host Crystal Palace in their next Premier League fixture on Sunday by which time the summer transfer window will have finally closed. That will allow Maresca to focus on moulding his team and pointing the Blues in the right direction after two challenging seasons. This season could be a successful one at Stamford Bridge, but work is still to be done before Friday to make that happen.
