Chelsea have allowed their inactive approach to the transfer window to cast a dark cloud over much of the summer. They are now running the risk of it casting a cloud over the season as well.
Even if Chelsea do not buy any more players this summer they still have plenty of work to do. Sorting out the loans and deciding which players should stay at Cobham as opposed to some far-flung destinations will be important as well. The most important task, though, is settling the futures of some of their most important players: Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante, and Thibaut Courtois.
The decisions are really quite simple: in or out. Either way, Chelsea need to make a decision that will allow Maurizio Sarri and the club to move forward in a definitive manner. They have wasted a peculiar and self-destructive amount of time with this “are we, aren’t we,” half-in and half-out approach.
Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante simply need to be re-signed. Eden Hazard is the best player in the Premier League and should be paid as such. A deal to make him the highest paid player in the league would most likely convince him that his future does, in fact, lie at Stamford Bridge. N’Golo Kante – just on principle – should get a new contract for £250,000 a week. He’s the heart of the team. He’s a World Cup winner and the best central midfielder in the world. It just makes sense.
Then there is the Courtois issue. Though in many ways my colleague Scott Brant’s article on the matter is a good solution and an entirely reasonable approach, we should consider another. Chelsea should sell Courtois, but not to Real Madrid.
Sell him to a team in Spain and get his cancerous attitude away from the club. The issue here is more one of principle than anything else. Courtois has been disrespectful to the club, the supporters, the ownership and his teammates for years. There’s no way the team can reach certain ethereal heights with a player in the side who’s that much of a human kick in the pants.
Chelsea should package him and cash to Atletico Madrid for Jan Oblak and perhaps another player. It would be a big deal and an expensive one. If Chelsea can, of course, unload him to another destination like Paris Saint-Germain, that would be fine as well. Courtois just happens to lean towards Madrid, so it would make the deal easier to complete.
The point is Chelsea need to make a statement. Letting Courtois go to Real Madrid is the equivalent of a parent giving in to their child who has thrown a tantrum in the market. It’s pathetic and ridiculous and all the other children will learn the wrong thing from it. It simply goes on until someone stands firm and says “Stop.” Never in my life have I seen a club with a larger group of moaning, complaining whingebags who are more comfortable in their dalliances with other clubs than the current group at Chelsea. It must stop, and making a true example out of Courtois is the first step.
Chelsea have for too long allowed their own players to make them into a joke. The only issue is it’s not funny.