Chelsea have already had a headline making January. They signed American winger Christian Pulisic while also sanctioning the move of Cesc Fabregas to Monaco.
Christian Pulisic’s arrival presents something of an interesting scenario. On the one hand, he is a remarkably talented young man with a good attitude and the Borussia Dortmund style of play will blend with Maurizio Sarri’s very well. He’s a perfect right winger for a 4-3-3 formation. With him on the horizon, Chelsea should begin phasing out both players currently in that position.
That said, it is a bit hard to be excited about a player who has so clearly been outdone by competition within his own squad this season. For Jadon Sancho to have shown up and – in a single summer – displace a player two years his senior with nearly 100 appearances is not exactly enticing stuff for £58 million. Tack on the fact that Callum Hudson-Odoi can and would do just as decent a job if he were allowed to play, and we have an ever more complicated scenario.
Why don’t Chelsea just play Hudson-Odoi? He showed against Nottingham Forrest he is already more dangerous than both Pedro and Willian. Bayern Munich have bid £30 million for the teenager and they have a pretty good record of recognizing talent. That in and of itself should be enough.
So that’s where we stand. Chelsea already have a homegrown talent who is valued comparably to the player Chelsea just bought and who plays in the same position. Why did they do it?
The answer, I think, is for non-footballing reasons, as sad as it is to say. Much like when Real Madrid bought David Beckham from Manchester United in the early 2000’s, it has a lot to do with merchandising and shirt sales. That has nothing to do with Pulisic as a player, by the way, to those of you soft-bellied simpletons who would confuse a qualified discussion with “hating.”
This isn’t a bad thing. Chelsea absolutely need to do better from a merchandising perspective. In the time of Financial Fair Play, Roman Abramovich can no longer bail the team out of problematic financial spots, and Chelsea are the smallest of the big teams in the Premier League. Manchester City have already catapulted themselves ahead of Chelsea in terms of club value despite only entering the realm of relevance a few years ago. Manchester United are grossly larger and Arsenal earn more, too. Tottenham are about to have a larger stadium and improve their game-day earning. Liverpool are in a similar place to Chelsea in terms of size, and are improving the size of their stadium as well.
At the top level finances matter. The most successful clubs in world football by and large are also the richest clubs in world football. Money matters whether you want to acknowledge it or not. If you find such things so repulsive that you can’t handle this discussion, I’m sure there’s a World Quidditch League membership and pair of Birkenstock’s in Barrington with your name on them.
The most uncrackable market in the world is the American one. Americans traditionally just don’t care about the sport. Why they don’t is a topic for another time, and I’m more than willing to discuss who is at fault.
But what Americans do care about is Americans, and particularly a historic one playing for a team in England (the most popular league in the United States). Pulisic gives the American market an interesting potion to mix-up (there’s a magic reference for you WQL-associated readers – don’t worry we still love you).
The United States market is one of the few in the world that combines a large population of people with expendable income. That income can be used for buying football shirts, and with Chelsea signing the best American player in generations many of those shirts will be Chelsea ones. That will help Chelsea compensate for their smaller gate receipts and match day income, and continue to wage the great war against the larger historic clubs in world football.
That is why it is a complicated issue. Chelsea should play Hudson-Odoi but he won’t move a million shirts in the United States and earn the club his transfer value in merchandise. Hudson-Odoi is the best youth player in Europe ,but things are stacked against him.
But that all overlays the frustration from Chelsea making an equivalently ridiculous decision in letting Cesc Fabregas leave too early. He is the only player who can replace Jorginho in Sarri’s system, and we all know how important the Brazilian-born Italian is.
The rumor is Chelsea will try to replace Fabregas with Nicolo Barella of Cagliari. Spending £50 million to replace a back-up in an already overly-complicated and crowded midfield isn’t exactly “brainy”. Particularly coupled with how Chelsea are planning on again buying the player and loaning him back to Cagliari. That does suggests a certain amount of guilt and an incoming transfer ban.
Chelsea still need a striker yet are rumored to be spending £100 million pounds on players they don’t actually need on the pitch. The good news, though, is they may be back on the chase for Edinson Cavani to replace “The Great Moping Morata,” a nickname more magical than the Spaniard seems to be on the pitch.
Cavani is a perfect striker. He always has been for as long as I’ve been of a fan of his at Palermo. He has wonderful dexterity with both feet, a great sense of positioning and the sort of frame a striker should have. His leadership qualities and his age make him a perfect mentor for the eventual return of Tammy Abraham.
Chelsea appear to be moving in the right direction. Hopefully Hudson-Odoi gets more playing time because he truly is a wonder. Few of Chelsea’s purchased elders have been as bright as either this season. Ethan Ampadu was a another spot of sunshiny brightness against Nottingham Forest as well.
If Chelsea can add someone who will actually take part in practice before the summer, help with the push for fourth place and keep off the revitalized Manchester United then it will have been a successful January.
The next stop will be signing Eden Hazard to a new contract, but that is a question and an issue for next week.