There doesn’t seem to be a plan at Chelsea.
Almost 12 months ago it was out with the old and in with the new at Stamford Bridge as Todd Boehly became the club’s new owner, replacing Roman Abramovich. But while there are fresh faces there’s still one thing ever-present: chaos.
Chelsea are in a complex position right now. They’re underperforming in the league and sections of the fanbase aren’t taking to Graham Potter, who has struggled since replacing Thomas Tuchel.
While results haven’t been up to scratch (at the time of writing, Chelsea are 10th in the table) this shouldn’t be the main cause of concern for Blues supporters, it should be the vision of the club.
It was also going to be the case that Potter wanted new faces in as all of those brought in during the summer were not his signings and therefore may not be suited to his style of football. What is worrying though is how they’re doing their business.
You can almost guarantee that if your side has been linked with a player, Chelsea will suddenly become interested too. A prime example of this is Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mykhailo Mudryk.
Mudryk is one of the most exciting players in world football and has been admired by Arsenal for a long time. The Gunners are actively pursuing a move for the Ukraine international but then, out of the blue, Chelsea are suddenly interested.
Enzo Fernandez is also another questionable move. His performances at the World Cup for Argentina deservedly earned him the young player of the tournament award and the inevitable tag of being the player that is linked with a move to every top side because of that.
All of a sudden there have been talks of Chelsea activating his reported €120m release clause to sign him from Benfica. A reminder that this is a player that nearly joined Fulham last summer. I bet Chelsea weren’t interested then.
It has the same feeling as when you pestered your mum for the latest pair of shoes as a child only to realise that they match none of your clothes and in about three months’ time, nobody will be talking about them anyway as they move onto the next craze.
Boehly has made it quite clear he wants to be a hands-on owner – too hands-on if anything – which for someone like Potter who thrives when he is just allowed to get on with it is a bad mix.
It’s hard to wonder if these signings they’ve made (Datro Fofana, Benoît Badiashile and soon-to-be Andrey Santos) are with Potter’s approval or just ones Boehly is making because he can.
Chelsea are very much in a transition phase. Players once key to their success in recent years are heading towards the end of their careers or aren’t fit enough to play and therefore need moving on.
In times like this, you need stability and a plan, but it doesn’t seem like there is a plan. Chelsea fans should be worried about the long-term vision of the club because right now, it’s non-existent.
Related links:
- Leicester are sleepwalking down the table and nothing is being done to stop it
- Cristiano Ronaldo: The sad decline of a player that refused to listen to anyone but himself
- Jude Bellingham is no longer England’s hot prospect, he’s their star man
