Chelsea have been relentless in the transfer market and already seen the signings of Liam Delap and Joao Pedro this summer with Jamie Gittens also set to join from Borussia Dortmund
Andrey Santos made his Chelsea debut at the Club World Cup, making a 22-minute substitute’s appearance against Esperance Tunis in the group stages of the tournament. His debut came two and a half years after signing for the club from Vasco da Gama in a £13million deal.
Since then, he has been on loan at Vasco da Gama and on loan at Nottingham Forest and on loan at Strasbourg. But his testimony was, apparently, one of the reasons Joao Pedro decided a move from Brighton, where he was one of the team’s key players, to Chelsea was a good idea.
“I was talking with Andrey. I asked about the club,” said the new £55m arrival at Stamford Bridge. “He said good things about the team so it is good to join.”
Remember, since arriving in January of 2023, Santos has played once for the club. Just when you think Chelsea’s transfer policy could not get any more startling, along comes another eyebrow-raising signing.
For a start, it is the numbers that stagger. I make it 48 signings – including loan recruits – in three years.
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Denis Zakaria, Gabriel Slonin, Joao Felix, David Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Andrey Santos, Cesare Casadei, Carney Chukwuemeka, Malo Gusto, Noni Madueke, Benoit Badisashile, Kalidou Koulibaly, Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Wesley Fofana, Enzo Fernandez, Diego Moreira, Angelo, Deivid Washington, Djorde Petrovic, Robert Sanchez, Lesley Ugochukwu, Nicolas Jackson, Axel Disasi, Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, Romeo Lavia, Moises Caicedo, Tosin Adarabioyo, Jadon Sancho, Marc Guiu, Caleb Wiley, Renato Veiga, Mathis Amougou, Aaron Anselmo, Mike Penders, Omari Kellyman, Filip Jorgensen, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Joao Felix (again), Pedro Neto, Kendry Paez, Mamadou Sarr, Dario Essugo, Estevao, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro.
If I’ve missed anyone out, forgive me. And if you are familiar with the fortunes of each and every one of these players, you are the ultimate footballing anorak or devoted Chelsea fan.
The policy is hard to understand on a few levels. There have, of course, been plenty of outgoings as a balance to the buys and shrewd financial manoeuvring has obviously kept Chelsea within the legal parameters of the Profit and Sustainability Rules.
Selling the women’s team to a subsidiary of the club’s parent company for £200m clearly helps. But supporters of other clubs struggling to stay within the bounds of financial regulations must still be a touch mystified.
And then there is the astonishing churn. It is hard to believe the manager, Enzo Maresca, can keep track, bearing in mind he needs to be across the development of all of the outstanding players at the club’s academy.
The pathway for those players is a tough one. If they are good enough, they will still make it but it is a daunting task.
It has always been fundamentally linked to a club’s success, obviously, but the transfer market has never been so crucial – and complex. And Chelsea are certainly not the only ones to be very active in the relatively early stages of this window.
For money spent, Liverpool have matched them, for example, and, in 2025, Manchester City have signed eight players for a total of almost £300m. But Liverpool only signed one player in last year’s summer transfer window.
Maresca would, no doubt, suggest recent activity is all part of his reshaping of the squad and the upcoming season – rather than the current Club World Cup campaign – will be a reflection of how effective that has been. Perhaps Chelsea will be a major force in the Premier League and the Champions League. Maybe then, recruitment will not be so intense.
But does a club’s transfer policy – and Chelsea are stockpiling an inordinate amount of young players – really matter, as long as there is achievement on the pitch? The answer is yes.
To the outsider, Chelsea always had an identity. It stood for a bit of swagger, we always knew the core of a team that played with style. It was a cool club. It still is.
But its trade is now not only football but buying and selling. Players became icons. Now they just seem to be commodities.
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