Several Chelsea players have known for months that they had no place in Maurizio Sarri’s plans and should leave in January if they hope to play this season. The club should not now make those transfers contingent on replacements.
Cesc Fabregas made his final Premier League appearance and his final Chelsea appearance three days apart. He hugged some of his long-time teammates as he came off the pitch in the 85′ against Nottingham Forest, then took a tearful lap of honour around Stamford Bridge. Chelsea fans and admirers of the English game worldwide sent their appreciation along with their farewells to The Man With the Magic Hat.
At least we all thought those were his final appearances, his valedictory ovation and the meaning behind all the tweets from players, pundits and his wife. But since that Forest game five days ago, Fabregas and AS Monaco have been in a holding pattern on completing his move to Thierry Henry’s squad. Chelsea say they will not sanction the move until they line up his replacement.
Fabregas’ departure should not come as a surprise to anyone. The need for a technical midfielder to deputize Jorginho did not suddenly arise. While Leandro Paredes and Nicolo Barrella are recent additions to the top of the target list, they should be the end point of a months-long search, not the first entrants.
Chelsea are giving a similar line with Alvaro Morata. The Telegraph reports Atletico Madrid are battling Sevilla for Morata, who seems ready and willing to take any club in La Liga’s top four places. Gianfranco Zola gave the strongest indication of the thin patience around the coaching staff for Morata in his press conference before the Forest game. He clearly hit too close to home, as Carlo Cudicini did the post-game conference.
Maurizio Sarri’s road to Damascus moment about Eden Hazard as a false-nine shows a limited future for Alvaro Morata in the squad. Rumours of Sarri wanting a reunion with Gonzalo Higuain add another reason for Morata to leave. And this is all before we get to his form at Chelsea and the juvenilely hostile reception the fans now given him as a matter of course.
Cesc Fabregas’ departure has been more certain for much longer than Alvaro Morata’s, but neither are out of the blue. Other players’ departures have been even more guaranteed than the Spanish pair’s. Victor Moses and Gary Cahill have had far less playing time, and Danny Drinkwater and Lucas Piazon have had none. Those latter two have not even been in any matchday squads.
Chelsea cannot use the “awaiting replacements” excuse for players they do not need to replace because they do not do anything for the squad in the first place. The club are simply sucking more days out of these players’ careers by not letting them get on with things elsewhere.
For the players like Morata and Fabregas, though, this is another case where Chelsea fail to think about the day after tomorrow. Let’s say Chelsea cannot find a suitable replacement before the window closes. What will they say and do then? “Well, we didn’t want you here, but we can’t find anybody better. Now put on your kit and show how much you love this club.”
Will they throw a “Welcome back” party for Fabregas? Do they expect Alvaro Morata to put aside the mental fragility now publicly cited by his two coaches and play for the badge in front of an ungrateful fan base? Or will they put Morata on the Florent Malouda program?
How exactly does it work when all the tactical, emotional and managerial arrangements are made for a player to leave, and then he has to stay because the club need to keep him just in case? They cannot reasonably believe that keeping a player who was barely used in the first half of the season and clearly does not want to stick around gives them leverage when negotiating for his replacement.
Chelsea started the transfer window well with Christian Pulisic. They have since been busy reshuffling their loan army, with Lewis Baker and Kasey Palmer reassigned just yesterday. But they have some business that is already nine days overdue because it has been – or should have been – in the works for three months.
Chelsea need to replace some, but not all, outgoing players. They particularly need to balance their homegrown roster, considering how many of their cast-off players fill those spots. However, very little in Chelsea’s “outbox” is a surprise. The players who have already taken the biggest hit this season should not be penalized further by the club’s typically off-the-cuff transfer management.