Chelsea’s summer transfer window for me was around a 6/10. I believe we did a lot of good business and some of the outgoing deals we did were incredible. But there are so many question marks still hovering around some of the incoming business we did, and the incoming business we didn’t do.
For me, there are many risks, and I’ve honed in on an article I stumbled across this week for some debate.
“Chelsea’s transfer window left them in a delicate position, to put it lightly, and the recent 2-2 draw against Brentford has illustrated this damningly,” writes Henry (@CFCAnalytic) of LondonsFirst this week.
“I think it’s a valid claim to suggest that Chelsea should by now have a squad capable of competing for the title at a minimum.
“I think it’s safe to say Chelsea aren’t quite there on all three fronts, despite the mass investment.
“Chelsea provided a performance baseline last season that indicated they’re probably a lot closer to a title than many think.
“Chelsea ended up coming fourth with 69 points. Not vastly impressive, though assuming they don’t go an entire month of rough form, that can easily be 5-10 points higher.
“With a stronger squad this season, the bare minimum points target, for me, should be around 75 points.
“But, as hinted at, this is heavily reliant on one thing – the fitness of our squad.
“While there have been improvements to the squad, Chelsea still await the majority of incomings to settle in properly.
“The team is also thin in key positions, like centre back and in attack, especially with the frequent injuries to Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, and the current injury to Liam Delap.
“It’s this ‘thinness’ and reliance on fitness that will likely determine how the season will go.
“Of course, nearly all top teams will suffer massively if they have injuries to their top players.
“But in my opinion, Chelsea’s specific situation is more ‘flimsy’. With the added injury of Levi Colwill, Chelsea’s defence lies in the hands of Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Josh Acheampong.
“It is an unfortunate reality that none of the three are of the quality yet to be at a top level throughout the entire season.
“This thinness of depth is also prevalent up top. With Delap’s injury, Chelsea’s only real ‘9’ is Marc Guiu.
“Guiu was signed as a market opportunity for £5m in Summer 2024. Although he has good striking fundamentals, is far from even a short term solution.
“While there are certainly squad deficiencies, Maresca cannot afford to slip into the poor rotation rhythm he had last year and must start including players like Andrey Santos more.
“Maresca has indeed been left in a dodgy position. No proper CCB means his options to progress from the back are limited.
“Marc Guiu isn’t a top-level striker yet. The squad he’s been given is certainly good enough for a top-four finish, but asking him to achieve more would be disingenuous.
“If injuries get worse, we simply cannot blame Maresca. It would be unfair.
“And the real people we should be blaming would be the directors who took massive risks this transfer window.”
I rate a lot of this and agree with most of what Henry has said. What about you?
