Chelsea have splashed out in the early days of the Todd Boehly era of ownership in a manner
not too dissimilar from that of their previous owner. Roman Abramovich was forced to sell
the club in a deal sanctioned by the United Kingdom government to Boehly and his
consortium, ending a 19-year tenure with the Blues that brought five Premier League titles
and two Champions League crowns.
Boehly has ensured that Chelsea will not be taking a step back under his ownership, spending
significant sums of money in the transfer market to bolster Thomas Tuchel’s line-up. The
Blues fell off the pace in the Premier League title race last season after making a bright start.
Tuchel is under pressure to deliver with the Blues being backed for a
bet on sports to win the
Premier League at odds of 16/1. There will be an air of expectation for Chelsea to improve on
their third-place finish from last season, perhaps not entirely to win the crown, but to at least
provide meaningful competition in the dying stages of the term. It was a two-horse race last
season between Manchester City and Liverpool after the Blues faded.
Tuchel will have to deliver results, and a major part of his issues last season were injuries and
a lack of form from key players. The move for Romelu Lukaku was a complete failure as he
didn't manage to perform for the Blues following his £100 million transfer from Inter Milan.
He has since been offloaded on loan back to the Nerazzurri, and has been replaced
by Raheem Sterling.
Combinations in the final third were a prominent issue for the Blues without having a reliable
goalscorer. Sterling is not a prolific finisher, but should provide more of a threat than Lukaku,
while more will be expected of Timo Werner, with the German being on last-chance saloon.
Given that the club paid £50 million to acquire Sterling from City, Tuchel will be looking at
the England man to do a lot of the heavy lifting. At 27, Sterling is in the prime of his career
and arguably has a point to prove after not playing an integral role at City last season.
After losing Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger to Barcelona and Real Madrid
respectively, Chelsea spent £40 million to
sign Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli. The
Senegalese had a burgeoning reputation in Serie A, but the move to an elite club in the
Premier League seems to be two years too late. At the age of 32, he is still at a good age for a
defender, but Chelsea’s rearguard has an older look to it.
Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso and Thiago Silva are all in their thirties and will have to
hold up over the course of the season. The centre of midfield is in a similar situation with
Jorginho and N’Golo Kante. Chelsea’s spine is not built for a team that can afford to wait for
success, time is running out for a portion of these players to produce. The moves in the
summer have put pressure on the entire team to hit the ground running in the new campaign.