Chelsea’s last transfer window before the ban could be an all-time worst

Chelsea are in an increasingly dire position in the transfer market. Given Chelsea’s history during transfer negotiations, their inability to strong-arm anyone or have any leverage over deals, this transfer window will be a disaster.

Chelsea’s transfer and personnel situation is going from bad to worse to even worse on a daily basis. For starters, the Blues could be facing a two year transfer ban, which could be the longest ban of any club yet. Second, the transfer window is right around the corner and if there was ever a time to splash the cash, it would be now. Third, Maurizio Sarri needs a few quality players to make his system fully work.

The idea of a transfer ban is frightening, not just for fans, but surely for the manager and even the players. After all, a team that does not evolve is doomed to fail and, at this point, Chelsea’s squad needs to evolve. Therefore, the first thing that comes to mind when the words “two year transfer ban” are spoken is “buy everyone!”.

The club should have little thought of doing anything than spending big and spending right. They should be activating release clauses, paying over £60 million for players that are worth £50 million and completing just about every transfer in the manager’s wish list. They should relive earlier windows from the Roman Abramovich era, not the recent ones.

But the club simply do not have that mentality anymore. If the previous three transfer windows have taught us anything, it is how Chelsea are not capable of spending big anymore. Or, they simply don’t want to. Over the last two seasons, the majority of the signings were injured players, mediocre mid-table starters, and a couple of possible first team players. The only starter Chelsea managed to pour money into was Alvaro Morata, and that did not turn out very well at all.

This gives little hope of Chelsea buying any super stars, splashing the cash or doing anything to make this a fruitful transfer window. Those expecting Mauro Icardi to become a Blue this in the winter or summer should prepare themselves in the worst possible way.

Even the threat of a ridiculously huge transfer ban on the horizon will not be enough to shake the Chelsea board into life. They will do what they please, completely disregarding the technical and tactical needs of the manager, the absence of some key roles in the team or even the need to replace Eden Hazard when he leaves for Real Madrid.

Another important factor to keep in mind while the board throw away another transfer window: Maurizio Sarri will never fully get the back-up he needs.

How do we back up such an unequivocal assertion, you ask? Well, if Antonio Conte – a man who won just about everything with Juventus and then came to Chelsea, was top of the table by New Year’s in his first season and went on to win the Premier League that same year – did not get more than two of the players he asked for, why would Sarri?

Chelsea are not doing great for many reasons under Maurizio Sarri. While that alone is reason to say “maybe he needs financial help,” the board’s reasoning could be a little different. They may see the proper order of things to be “we aren’t spending money on this cause if this is all you have to show for yourself.” Attractive football doesn’t warrant backing from the Chelsea hierarchy (or anyone for that matter), even if a transfer ban is coming.

Finally, the club will always think about a future without the current manager. If Sarri leaves or is sacked by the end of the season, the next manager won’t have the same mentality as the Italian. Therefore, the club will always prefer neutral players who can adapt to different styles of play and make almost any formation work.

Perfect examples are N’Golo Kante and Marcos Alonso. These two were given to Conte as a welcome gift, when in reality the club was thinking about how good they could be with any manager using any system. Obviously, Kante is incredibly good in his position and any manager would be lucky to have him. On the other hand, Alonso was the perfect wing-back who could shoot, cross, score goals and defend. And now he plays as a left-back, with less freedom than before, and is still doing a solid job at it.

Chelsea are about to enter crisis mode if they don’t act fast. New players need to come in to strengthen the squad, either via transfers or by recalling them from loan. But don’t expect a crazy holiday splash of cash.

Chelsea no longer symbolize the man going to a night club with a stack of $100 bills, making it rain around everyone for no reason. Rather, expect that person who complains at the grocery store about not receiving a discount when the coupon they presented to the clerk expired a month ago, and then decides to get the generic brand of the product because it’s cheaper.