Mauricio Pochettino begins his new job on Monday and he may not have too much time to get to know some of his new players. The big Stamford Bridge clear out is well and truly under way and, with Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and a bulky recruitment team happy to rip it all up and start again, it is impossible to predict what Chelsea team will walk out against Liverpool on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season.
Only a few certainties remain. Enzo Fernández joined for £106.8 million (124.3 million) in January and is going nowhere, Thiago Silva has signed on for another year and Reece James is untouchable at right-back. As for the incomings there is excitement over the £58m signing of the France forward Christopher Nkunku, hope that Malo Gusto will provide strong cover for James and, if all goes well during negotiations with Brighton, plans for Moisés Caicedo to partner Fernández in a young and energetic midfield.
At the moment the focus for Chelsea’s sporting directors, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, is on sales. The aim is to streamline. A spend of close to £600 million since last year’s takeover by Boehly and Clearlake Capital has left Chelsea with a bloated, unhappy squad and the need for a cull was clear after they finished 12th last season.
Pochettino needs time to rebuild. Last season was chaotic and the club’s finances are in the spotlight. There was a loss of £121 million in last year’s accounts and, given how much Chelsea have spent since last summer, the failure to qualify for Europe has raised questions over financial fair play.
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It is worth remembering that sources were talking of panic during the final weeks of last season. Multiple insiders, though, have stressed that FFP is not a big issue this summer. Some players were always going to attract big offers and fears that expensive disappointments on lucrative wages would be unsellable have been eliminated. Fortunately clubs from the Saudi Pro League have been more than happy to snap up a few of Chelsea’s duds.
The Premier League is satisfied that there is no conflict of interest presented by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund owning a stake in Clearlake, a private equity firm based in California. Rival clubs can gripe but Chelsea say interest in their players is purely transactional. They have managed to offload Kalidou Koulibaly to Al-Hilal for £17 million, a year after signing the 32-year-old defender from Napoli for £33.8 million and giving him a four-year deal, and Édouard Mendy to Al-Ahli for £16 million. They have seen N’Golo Kanté join Al-Ittihad on a free transfer, which is probably for the best given the midfielder’s poor fitness record.
It was not supposed to run this smoothly. Chelsea thought it would take a few windows to sort out the mess, but they have a chance to do it in one summer. There is interest from Internazionale in César Azpilicueta, Trevoh Chalobah and Romelu Lukaku, who wants to return to Italy. Milan are signing Ruben Loftus-Cheek for an initial £15 million and want Christian Pulisic. Conor Gallagher and Callum Hudson-Odoi are available and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang needs to leave. The right offer for Marc Cucurella, who has struggled at left-back since joining for £62 million last year, will not be turned down.
Ultimately almost every player is vulnerable, raising questions over whether Chelsea are becoming a high-end selling club. If nothing else, the ruthlessness is eye-catching. Chelsea are cutting wages and felt that Mason Mount, whose contract expired next year, wanted too much. They were happy to take the PR hit of selling Mount to Manchester United for a deal that should be worth £60 million.
It is a bold strategy and does not come without risks. With Mateo Kovacic sold to Manchester City for £25 million and Kai Havertz to Arsenal for £65 million, Chelsea raised almost £150m before the end of June, meaning the money can be factored into last season’s accounts.
But what does it say when Pep Guardiola wants Kovacic, Mikel Arteta reimagines Havertz as a No 8 and Erik ten Hag targets Mount? Kovacic was unhappy and Havertz was not going to sign a new deal. There are questions over Chelsea’s identity in the dressingroom. It is certainly interesting to see them selling influential players to top clubs and buying from the likes of Villarreal, Leipzig and Brighton. Is it enough to regain a top-four spot?
There has been a shift in emphasis under Stewart and Winstanley. Last summer Chelsea chased big-name players with varying degrees of success. It was incoherent and costly, but in January they brought in young players on low deals and backed them to grow.
Now they are due to sign the 22-year-old Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal for just over £30 million. They are also targeting the 21-year-old Celta Vigo midfielder Gabri Veiga, who has a £34.4 million buyout clause. They have been scouring the world for teenage talent, heading to Brazil to buy Andrey Santos and Ângelo Gabriel, Ecuador for Kendry Páez, Jamaica for Dujuan Richards and the USA for Gabriel Slonina.
Perhaps Chelsea need more experience and leadership. Perhaps they do not have time to develop players, even if the key figures in their recruitment team have worked at clubs with a focus on buying unheralded youngsters and turning them into stars.
But at least there is a sense that Chelsea are building something. While they could do with a top No 9 and should think twice about sticking with Kepa Arrizabalaga as their No 1 goalkeeper, this is still an exciting squad. Wesley Fofana, Benoît Badiashile and Levi Colwill are strong young center backs. Ben Chilwell and James are excellent full-backs. Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke are talented wingers in need of direction; Raheem Sterling is determined to turn over a new leaf. Pochettino, who has a proven track record of improving young players who want to listen, might just find this job to his liking. – Guardian
