In the latest Tactics and Transfers, we sift through the latest Chelsea transfer news and discuss who Antonio Conte should bring to Stamford Bridge.
June 11th 2016 marked the first day of the Antonio Conte era at Chelsea. Pictures are already available of the quite vocal coach getting to work with some members of the Chelsea squad. Now, while a few have not joined up yet due to their prolonged spells with respective national teams, all Chelsea fans can be happy to see the team is back to work.
The job of restoring Chelsea’s reputation after what was the most shameful title defense in the history of English football will be no small task, but it does appear Conte is up for the job. The parallels between Chelsea now and Juventus when he took over in 2011 are startling.
Having seen Conte work at not only Juventus but also the Italian national team to high levels of success should be reassuring for those Chelsea supporters who still felt unsure of his resume.
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Personally, I couldn’t be happier that Conte is the manager that Chelsea have chosen to move forward with. When Chelsea were in the stages of hiring Jose Mourinho and Conte had just left Juventus, I deeply wanted Chelsea to make a move for him then as well.
It will be important for Conte to maximize the talents of the squad he has because Chelsea have had trouble in the transfer market in recent years. Whether or not that is the fault of technical director Michael Emenalo is up for debate but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s true.
It has now been two years since that summer when Chelsea succeeded in bringing both Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas to Stamford Bridge and catapulted themselves to the championship. In the time since then, almost no meaningful additions have been made to the squad.
Michy Batshuayi looks to have been a good signing and his link up play with Eden Hazard at Euro 2016 gives me a lot of hope that their relationship will bear fruit for Chelsea as well. That said, Chelsea do need other reinforcements. Whether those reinforcements come from the loan army or not is another matter.
Having said that, it is entirely possible that Chelsea can make every necessary signing from within the loan army. But, should they choose to add outside players, that wouldn’t hurt either.
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Unfortunately the book on Radja Nainggolan to Chelsea does appear to be closed. This leaves Chelsea looking for other players. Hopefully, they are able to sign Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli; Everton can stop all this recent posturing that they’re doing. Kalidou Koulibaly would be a good signing and definitely helpful in terms of bridging the gap between the new and old Chelsea.
It is difficult to gauge where Chelsea actually stand in the transfer market because the prices of players are so grossly inflated when it comes to English teams. Teams in other leagues appear to operate with a two-tiered negotiating strategy. A price for teams outside of England and a price for teams within England.
This is where we can see some of the effects of Brexit on the transfer market. With the weakening of the pound the euro is stronger. For instance, let’s say you were spending £50 million. Before Brexit, when sterling stood at a dominant 1.35 euros to the pound, you would have bought a player worth up to €67 million.
Now, that same amount of pounds is worth €59 million. When teams are negotiating as hard as they are against Chelsea, particularly given Chelsea’s weakened and desperate position, every single one of those pounds matter.
A couple of decent signings would be Koulibaly and Leonardo Bonucci. The good thing with Conte is that he has always proven to be a shrewd negotiator in the transfer market. It will be interesting to see if the dynamic between Emenalo and the manager proves to be rocky, as was the case with Mourinho.
After adding one of those two defenders, Chelsea could recall Marco Van Ginkel from his loan spell and give Ruben Loftus-Cheek more starts. It is hard to negotiate in the current market because Chelsea are being forced to pay premiums for many different things.
1. Chelsea finished outside the Champions League places so players are asking for astronomical wages to sacrifice a year outside of Europe’s premier competition. 2. Teams know that Chelsea are very desperate so they are asking for absurdly inflated prices. For instance, Radja Nainggolan simply is not worth the £40 million that Roma were waiting for.
The N’Golo Kante signing, should it go through, will be intriguing. Kante only has one good season under his belt and making a signing based off one season’s performances seems like a dangerous piece of business.
If Leicester ask for more than £25-28 million Chelsea should pursue Moussa Sissoko of Newcastle instead. He has the same level of skill, perhaps more, as Kante and Newcastle could be pressured into selling him because of their relegation. They will, as per usual, seek too much money but after taking a hardline, a fee of £25 million or less could be agreed.
If those 3-4 signings are made, that should be sufficient. If not, Chelsea fans shouldn’t worry too much. Chelsea’s current squad should be, at a minimum, able to get back into the Champions League and that is the first year goal for the incoming Conte. Once the club has returned to the Champions League it will be easier to influence players to come to Stamford Bridge.
Next: POL Chelsea Debate: England’s next manager, pre-season tour
It is important that Chelsea supporters and the club as a whole remember to be patient. Conte is a good manager. He was hired to do a job and he will do it well.