Chelsea F.C. reportedly spent £274 million on new players and hired a new manager since the end of last season, but they still managed to make their team worse.
Chelsea F.C. Online News:
The club’s new owners, a group that includes Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly, have accomplished quite a feat. Graham Potter, the team’s manager, is currently taking the brunt of the criticism for the team’s disappointing results and poor performances, at least for the time being.
Potter, whose team is currently eighth in the Premier League, seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, will have no illusions about the fact that his future will always be directly influenced by performance on the field.
Two victories in seven games, including four losses, is a dismal record at the moment, and with two games against Manchester City this week in the Premier League and FA Cup, things might get lot worse before they get better.
Chelsea had the traits of a team that had been put together on the fly without a clear plan or strategy during the 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest on Sunday. And that’s not too far from the truth.
Potter had nothing to do with the club’s summer free agent losses of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen to Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. Boehly was powerless to stop the defenders from leaving the team, but the new owner approved the loan departure of Romelu Lukaku ($97.5 million) to Inter Milan and the permanent return of Timo Werner ($25 million) to RB Leipzig.
Up until the last-minute decision to acquire 33-year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona for £10 million at the conclusion of the summer transfer window, Chelsea was without a reliable goal scorer.
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After beginning his administration with the £47.5 million acquisition of English winger Raheem Sterling from Manchester City, Boehly also oversaw the £171 million expenditure on defenders Kalidou Koulibaly (£33m), Marc Cucurella (£63m), and Wesley Fofana (£75m).
The team is now trying to recruit RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku up front and Josko Gvardiol on the defense line, but insiders claim Chelsea have already reached a £32 million deal to acquire Monaco‘s Benoit Badiashile, a 21-year-old center back.
In addition, they are willing to activate Enzo Fernandez’s £106 million release clause at Benfica, the 21-year-old midfielder from Argentina who shone at the World Cup.
Potter will have to make do with what he has and what others above him think he needs because he has been hired to coach the club rather than handle player recruiting. However, this Chelsea team has too many unanswered questions and too many underwhelming players. Potter must accept some responsibility for that and must simply do better using the resources at his disposal, but his superiors must also improve.
Football is rife with clubs and owners who believe that throwing money at a problem would lead to success more quickly, but those who succeed are typically those who gain value for money through clever additions rather than expensive ones. If Chelsea don’t take that lesson to heart, Potter will unavoidably suffer the price, but he won’t bear all the blame if it doesn’t turn out well for him at Stamford Bridge.
