Manchester CIty, Liverpool and Arsenal have all made strong moves in the transfer market, even if not every attempt was successful. Chelsea have barely squeaked out new rumours, and this should concern fans hoping to avoid a repeat of 2015/16.
Manchester City are about to complete the second of two transfers from AS Monaco: Benjamin Mendy will soon join Bernardo Silva in sky blue. Monaco rejected Arsenal’s £87 million bid for Kylian Mbappe. Liverpool are close to signing a former Chelsea player, Mohamed Salah, for £32 million along with a Chelsea transfer target – Virgil van Dijk – for £50 million.
Meanwhile, transfer news out of Stamford Bridge revolves around the same three striker candidates, hiccups in the Tiemoue Bakayoko negotiations and musings on Ivan Perisic. Most of the rumours are recycled. Very little new information – either new players, new offers or actual progress towards a signing – has emerged since the season ended.
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Some fans (and supporters) are worryingly nonchalant about the lack of activity. Chelsea are the reigning champions, they remind us. Therefore, the Blues need less reinforcement than those wayward clubs in places 2-6. The onus is on these challengers, we are told, to first reach Chelsea’s level before we should worry about them exceeding it.
In a word, hogwash. In several more words, this is precisely the level of complacency that can topple a champion and strangle a potential dynasty in its earliest stages. It is the first sign of the mentality that celebrates “putting the pressure on” the winners, or 20 years of qualifying with no real progression.
Chelsea won the league with a deceptively comfortable seven point margin. That margin is only three points – a single win – above its nadir, but six points below its peak.
Chelsea looked increasingly vulnerable coming down the stretch. Opponents figured out how to defeat Antonio Conte’s tactics and his men. Sam Allardyce took three points off of Chelsea. Sean Dyche helped himself to two, and Tony Pulis was minutes away from swiping two more. Jose Mourinho learned from Mauricio Pochettino and shut down Chelsea despite fielding less than the Red Devils’ best XI.
Allardyce. Pulis. Dyche. What would Zinedine Zidane have done to this side? If you are not happy with that hypothetical, you should not be happy about Chelsea’s passivity so far this summer. Zidane’s Real Madrid could be a quick few months away.
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But, wait, it’s June 6 for crying out loud. The Blues signed Marcos Alonso and David Luiz on deadline day last year. Neither were much feted at the time, but became vital to Chelsea’s win. Why worry so early?
Yes, both players had immense seasons. I personally ate many words as I, shall we say, “revised” my assessment of Luiz. But if you think he was Antonio Conte’s first, second or third choice, or that Conte was happy to wait that long to sign a centre-back, I’d like to speak to you about a bridge I have for sale.
Chelsea will not fulfill Antonio Conte’s ambitions – nor the fans’ nor Roman Abramovich’s expectations – if they scramble to hoover up the leftovers on deadline day. Nor should they veer to the other extreme and submit to the galactico mentality of buying any and all expensive players simply because they are there and you have the money.
The point is not whether Liverpool beat Chelsea to Virgil van Dijk or if Chelsea should sign Romelu Lukaku before Manchester United does. The point is that other clubs have already improved on last year to set the stage for defeating the Blues next year. By standing still, Chelsea have allowed them to close the gap. By staying quiet, they have sent the message that this is okay.
Transfers are the manifestation of intent and ambition. They are a recognition of weakness and vulnerability, and the desire to improve and overcome. Transfer rumours – not the banter, but the honest well-sourced rumours – are a sign of all this. They show the world – fans (and supporters), detractors, opponents – that the club are already battling for next year’s silverware, months before the first whistle.
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Chelsea may have their reasons for keeping a lid on the rumours. But to have fans (and supporters) say that all is well and everything will work out in the end is condescending and complacent. Let’s hope the club has a better sense of purpose than these Pangloss pundits.
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