Chelsea and Tottenham rewrote the narratives of their transfer situations

Chelsea’s win over Tottenham on Sunday revealed a better understanding of each club’s transfer needs. The Blues’ top priority shifted to winger, and Tottenham recognized that home-grown is not the complete answer.

For most of the summer, any listing of Chelsea’s transfer needs had a wing-back near the top. Marcos Alonso was sufficient for 2016/17 – so the story went – but did not have the mettle or the depth of technique for a Premier League defence nor a Champions League campaign. Fortunately the Blues had Victor Moses on the right side, but they desperately needed Alex Sandro, Benjamin Mendy or Danilo to take over for Alonso the left.

Alonso may have read these analyses and decided that he would end them once and for all, in dramatic fashion on the most noticeable stage. His two goals against Tottenham were only the headline moments of a dominant game. Alonso played wing-back to perfection, demonstrating for the second game in a row his thorough command of the two-way position.

Before the season he welcomed the competition that a new signing would bring for his role. On Sunday, he ended the competition before anyone else could get near Stamford Bridge.

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Chelsea still need depth at wing-back, as they do in most places across the pitch. Antonio Conte taxed his roster and his creativity to craft a lineup without Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and Gary Cahill. He will not want to do the same for a missing Marcos Alonso. Conte likes two-player depth at every position, and wing-back does not lend itself to duct tape solutions.

Since Chelsea do not need an immediate starter, they can seek a young prospect or even turn to their academy. Given the few wing-backs in the world, let alone the dwindling number on the transfer market, Kenedy or Fikayo Tomori could spend the season training for the moment Conte may need them.

However, Sunday’s derby revealed that Chelsea are dangerously weak at winger. For the second game Willian was tentative, uncreative and ineffective. He started the game with his usual attempts to beat every defender twice until coughing up the ball. He did not look for passes, did not create flicks or lay-offs and did not find openings to use his pace.

Willian showed a lack of confidence in the second half stemming from his first half. He was reluctant to take on a defender, choosing instead to stand on the ball until the defender dispossessed him or he made a weak pass. He played Alvaro Morata in once in the second half, but did little else.

With Eden Hazard injured and Willian in this state, Pedro is Chelsea’s most effective winger. Pedro comes up with scorching goals at opportune moments, but he is not someone Antonio Conte can count on for 90 – or even 70 – minutes of consistent, tactically solid football. He also creates few opportunities, other than those shots he scores out of nothing.

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The overlapping absences of Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas show how dependent Chelsea are on them for a creative spark. Antonio Conte needs a winger who can create opportunities on his own, as well as part of a partnership with the wing-back or Alvaro Morata. This winger would compete with both Willian and Pedro for the starting XI, and would mitigate any future Hazard-less spells.

Jeremie Boga is too young to assume this role. Any Chelsea fans clamoring for expanded opportunities for the youth should take a cautionary lesson from the other extreme: Tottenham.

Tottenham looked like a team that has little outside experience or influence. The players and manager played the only way they know how against a team where most players have seen a little bit of everything and the manager has built a system specifically for them. Tottenham served the in-house special, which is the only thing on their menu. Mauricio Pochettino emerged from that game and post-match press conference looking like another Pep Guardiola: a martyr at the altar of his peculiar football ideology.

Tottenham and Chelsea may face each other again over the next eight days, this time in the transfer market. The two clubs are supposedly vying for Ross Barkley, three month injury be damned. Central midfield is the one constant among Chelsea’s transfer needs. Tiemoue Bakayoko had a strong debut, but Chelsea still lack depth – particularly if Conte revisits the 3-5-2.

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For Tottenham, the Barkley pursuit is a belated recognition that homegrown is not always the answer. The Spurs need defenders more than an attacking midfielder, as Marcos Alonso amply demonstrated. And they need the variety of technique and tactical acumen that an experienced player from Europe would bring. But given their commitment to English players, the young mid from Merseyside may be the biggest baby step they are willing to take.