Chelsea must resist the shiny objects of the World Cup’s breakout stars
By George Perry
The second to last thing Chelsea need is another underwhelming transfer window of injured, upper-middle tier players. The last thing they need is to over-compensate by buying a hyped-up darling of the World Cup.
The people telling you this week “I’ve always said Aleksandr Golovin would be a perfect fit at Chelsea” are the same ones who say “I knew in the summer of 2015 Leicester City were primed to be something special.” Mm hmm, sure you did. If Russia go deep in the World Cup, Golovin will be one of the breakout stars. Unless, that is, you’ve been closely following his progress from CSKA Moscow’s youth team through his senior debut in 2015. Then it would be less a breakout performance than a chance for the rest of us to catch up.
Chelsea have very little in motion right now. Maurizio Sarri is perpetually just a few hours away from signing his contract, and he is still much further along than any prospective transfer. At least people are talking somewhat seriously about Sarri.
At some point this summer, Chelsea and their coach – Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri, last-minute third-party hire – will need to buy new players. The current stars are increasingly concerned by the lack of incoming activity. This will place even more urgency on the board to act. But urgency rarely equates to equality, especially at Stamford Bridge. The pressure from the players will not spur the process into action any sooner. It will simply make the board more trigger happy when the time does come.
Aleksandr Golovin is enjoying his World Cup momentum, which will lead to a boost in his transfer value and celebrity. Teams who were not previously interested will start to ask around. Teams who were interested will start increasing their bid. And teams wishing to show ambition and make up for lost time will write checks first, ask questions later.
Chelsea must avoid that latter category. Their decision to pursue and purchase (or not purchase) Golovin should include an assessment of his World Cup, but should not hinge on it.
The World Cup is a fragile place to build one’s reputation. Seven games against a rotating variety of playing styles while playing under the unusual structure of a national team say very little about a player’s abilities week in, week out for a club. And it says next to nothing about their ability to do it on a cold Wednesday night in Stoke (hurry back, Stoke, we need our banter). Basing a transfer decision in large part on the World Cup is a significant risk built on a narrow support. The purchasing team often generates a week of positive headlines and then a season of headaches as they wonder “Where is the player we purchased?”
Chelsea need to make transfers to show some level of ambition and purpose. They have reached the point where they need to prove these qualities to their own players. They also need to make transfers to reinforce the squad for four competitions. Buying the World Cup’s flavour of the month superficially meets the first criteria, and does little for the more meaningful second.
If the Blues were scouting Aleksandr Golovin over the last season or at various points over the last three years, he is making a strong case to be one of their top signings of the summer. And with the tournament only a few days old, other players may still emerge as the break-through star. But if those players are breaking through to Chelsea’s consciousness for the first time, they should not be among the major transfers of the summer.
Next: Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri are more similar than different
With or without a technical director, the scouting dossiers should be complete. The World Cup is not a place to go shopping. As desperate as the Blues are, they cannot afford expensive, marquee mistakes.