On the Volley: Is Chelsea’s transfer strategy bound to fail?

By Charlie DeMatteo

Since Todd Boehly bought Chelsea FC in May of 2022, the London club has spent a mind-boggling 550 million euros on new talent in a matter of months. Due to the lavish spending from Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain over the years, this figure may not seem so crazy in today’s market if it had been spent over a span of several seasons. However, the bombardment of signings that Chelsea made in such a short period is truly unprecedented.

While on the surface it appears to be random and reckless spending by Boehly and Co., there are some reasons why the new regime felt the need to spend so much so quickly. The combination of a stale and injured squad, a new manager and a new owner’s desire to win over the fans has resulted in this mass-spending spree, but has it been the right decision?

It’s hard to believe that less than two full seasons ago, Chelsea won the Champions League under Thomas Tuchel. As they sit 10th in the Premier League table under Graham Potter, what has happened to that team and why are they underperforming so badly?

The truth starts with the downfall of the previous Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. After the start of the war in Ukraine, Abramovich was forced to sell the club due to his relationship with Vladimir Putin. While this obviously led to issues in the boardroom, it also had ramifications on the field. 

While Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government, Chelsea was unable to negotiate new contracts for current players as well as any transfers. Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger were two players crucial to Chelsea’s Champions League win, but both found themselves out of contract come the end of the 2022 season. With Chelsea unable to negotiate new deals while Abramovich was still in charge, Rudiger and Christensen both left the club, and a massive hole in Chelsea’s team was left behind.

Once Boehly took control of the club, he signed Kalidou Koulibaly to replace Rudiger, and Wesley Fofana to replace Christensen. At the time these seemed like smart, albeit expensive signings, but time has shown otherwise. Fofana has hardly played for Chelsea due to a variety of injuries, and Koulibaly has had a hard time adapting to the pace of the Premier League. While it’s safe to say that those two signings haven’t worked out, you can’t blame the logic behind signing them.

Moving forward past the defense, the Chelsea attack has been plagued with underperformers in recent years. The likes of Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech have all shown flashes of greatness for Chelsea, but have never reached consistent performance levels. For this reason, Boehly brought in proven Premier League goal-scorer Raheem Sterling over the summer to end the scoring woes. 

While the signing of Sterling made sense on paper, he hasn’t worked out either, struggling to fit into an underperforming team. Sterling’s lack of production has led to Boehly spending a whopping 118 million euros on forwards in the January window. That money has gone to the loan of Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke and David Datro Fofana. 

The first three of those four players are all expected to play a role in Chelsea’s first team, and while the amounts paid are staggering, it’s hard to say they didn’t need improvements in this area. While the likes of Pulisic and Sterling haven’t been performing when they have played, they have also struggled to stay fit, so you can’t blame the spending here. 

The last monster signing Chelsea made in the January window came in the form of Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who is fresh off winning the World Cup and taking home Young Player of the Tournament. Fernandez cost a whopping 120 million euros from Benfica, but sorts out a Chelsea midfield that has been struggling for years. 

All the signings I have discussed thus far have been quality players and you can understand why they were signed, so what is the big deal? For me, it comes down to how these new signings will mesh with Potter.

Potter came in just a month into the season after Tuchel was unceremoniously sacked by the board after a string of questionable performances. Potter came in from Brighton, where he had been working magic with a tiny budget to a behemoth of a club in Chelsea. Questions over whether Potter could handle a job this big were legitimate, but many believed he could be the right man to take Chelsea forward.

When a new manager comes into a club, they are usually entitled to some new players to fit their system. While Chelsea has certainly brought in new bodies since Potter arrived, it is unclear whether those have been signings made by the board or signings recommended by Potter himself. After all, it is well-documented the amount of control Potter had at Brighton when it came to recruitment. 

When you spend ludicrous amounts of money as Chelsea has done, you will expect results. Injuries have plagued Potter’s first few months at Chelsea so results haven’t been up to par. However, with new players brought in, the impetus will very much be on Potter to get this crop of players playing at their best. The question now is, will Boehly give Potter the time he needs to gel these players? 

If you compare the situation Potter was in at Brighton to Chelsea, it is night and day. Potter came into Brighton and slowly developed players so that they were suited to his style of play, and the end product was a cohesive group of players that were outperforming their market value. At Chelsea, it appears as though Boehly and the board have told Potter they are signing these players whether he likes them or not, and he will be expected to get the best out of them. You can see why there is a worrying difference in recruitment strategy. 

I suppose Boehly can choose to operate however he would like, but this much spending in this short of a time isn’t necessarily what is best for Potter. But what is best for Boehly is getting the fans on his side, and demonstrating his financial ambition is one way of doing that.

Under the previous regime, Abramovich also spent huge amounts of cash. I’m sure one of Boehly’s priorities as owner was to make sure the fans knew he was as determined to win as Abromvich was. This desire to earn the fans’ trust is another explanation for his crazy spending so far.

The way I look at Chelsea’s spending under Boehly is that if the players brought in during these two transfer windows were spread out over say four or five windows, no one would bat an eye. It is simply the quickness with which Boehly has operated that has shocked people. While I understand the shock, I also understand the need for Chelsea to improve in certain areas which have been underperforming for a long time. Boehly is trying to make a gourmet dish, and it seems like his priority is speed, so he is trying to microwave it, which could be costly.

Unless Chelsea goes on to win the Champions League again, it is unlikely they will qualify for it through the league, which would have huge financial ramifications. Boehly is taking a massive risk with the money he is spending in the time has spent it. Only time will tell how these investments will pan out, but Potter has his work cut out for him if he wants to remain Chelsea’s manager.