Rumours, rumours, rumours. Who are Chelsea actually going to sign? We may not know until after the Euros, which shouldn’t matter, but with rival teams announcing signings already, should the club be pushing harder for transfers?
Chelsea are set for a big summer in the transfer market. At the moment the club have been linked with every player in world football (almost). Chief Scout, Piet De Visser fanned the rumour flames by claiming there’s a ‘very busy summer‘ planned.
The problem for Chelsea is that their manager is focused on Euro 2016 at the moment. Antonio Conte is aiming to lead the Italian national team to their second Euros win.
Two other top teams in the Premier League are also welcoming new managers. Pep Guardiola with Manchester City and Jose Mourinho at Manchester United. While they won’t officially start their jobs until the clubs’ training camps in July, they have free time now to figure out transfers and player contracts.
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City have already completed the signing of Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund. Mourinho, meanwhile, is very close to confirming that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will join United. With fellow Londoners, Arsenal, making their moves early, Granit Xhaka joined them well before the Euros.
This will frustrate Chelsea fans. Gundogan and Xhaka are exciting, young midfielders who could’ve been great in blue, Ibrahimovic would have added experience and obvious quality to the team.
To be honest, Chelsea were probably never attempting to sign these players anyway, but big transfers are being made already.
The main reason for this is because after the Euros, players’ value will rise. If somebody has a brilliant tournament they could be sold for double the price of before.
Radja Nainggolan is a name consistently linked with Chelsea; at the moment it appears Roma are demanding over £30 million for the Belgian international. Should Belgium win the Euros and Nainggolan star in their midfield, Roma could easily ask for £40 million. Having seen Chelsea transfers in the past, it’s entirely possible the board will pay that (especially after last season).
The club needs to add star players to their squad, and Roman Abramovich knows this. It’s happened in the past where teams have made panic buys to snap up the surprise sensation of the tournament for a ridiculous amount of money, who then flops at the club. It should be a worry for Chelsea fans that it could be their club this summer.
Of course, Conte is not the only man in charge of the transfers. In fact, if we look at some of the clubs previous signings – I’m not entirely sure who is in charge of them.
*eyes narrow towards Michael Emenalo*
The Italian will be in constant contact with Chelsea and will have a list of his top signings at the ready.
It’s also important to remember the Euros could have a negative effect on a players’ value. Should they have a bad tournament, a lower bid for the player could suffice.
Furthermore, not all teams will use the Euros as a judge of player ability, and they shouldn’t. International games are a completely different kettle of fish than club matches.
Next: Chelsea and Antonio Conte: The Way Forward Part 3, The Rebuild
In reality, Conte managing at the Euros shouldn’t interfere with Chelsea’s transfer plans, but it sure doesn’t help. Let’s just enjoy the tournament and hope all current Chelsea players come back injury free.