Chelsea’s transfer ban is not all silver linings and rainbows on the horizon

Chelsea has a transfer ban, which they will appeal and try to remove or reduce. Many point to the silver linings but it is not all good consequences.

The reaction of the Chelsea fan base to the transfer ban has been as expected to those paying attention. Rival fans may be laughing but the Chelsea faithful are actually pretty okay with a ban because of the assumed silver linings.

A transfer ban is expected to force the Blues into using their youth and their sizable loan army. Finally, Chelsea will have no choice but to use their own to reinforce. And that is a pretty positive silver lining considering the hunger for “one of our own” to finally come through.

But one must not forget that the ban is a punishment and it will also have negative consequences. The ban might end up helping Chelsea in the long term, but in the short term there will be some pretty important negatives.

First of all, the world will know this ban is coming. They will know that Chelsea will look to reinforce as much as possible in the summer (provided the appeal occurs as expected). Furthermore, Chelsea could end up with three windows worth of cash to spend on one window if the ban is expected to hold up. So as Chelsea looks to reinforce, clubs will look to get as much of that money as possible. Christian Pulisic’s price in January may have seemed large for the player he is but that is only the tip of the iceberg.

The next sticking point will be who is planning this rebuild? Maurizio Sarri may not be the manager going into the summer. Whoever is will come in knowing they have a lot of cash for the short term but then they are in the wilderness. And without a technical director, how does Chelsea even plan for the ban?

So that means the managerial choices will be somewhat constricted and the likelihood of a technical director joining now is very low. Whoever is the manager going into the summer will likely be consulted heavily, but they will need to knock their plan out of the park. And, whoever is that manager, will likely remain the manager through the ban bar a catastrophe.

And looking at the last few windows, there has not been a window recently where Chelsea did not need some form of reinforcement. Sarri needed a striker in January (and a backup regista but that is another issue). He needed several players in the summer. Antonio Conte needed a backup leftback and a striker the window before that and several players his last summer as the club sold key players. It has been years since Chelsea entered a transfer window comfortable with who they had available.

Of course, that is where the youth and loan army comes in. That will require a manager who trusts playing kids and who finds the best use of players which Chelsea currently does not have. And that is not to mention the exiting players who look to run before they are “stuck” in Blue through the ban.

All of that is not to mention that if Roman Abramovich is thinking of selling the club, the chances of him being able to do so when the ban is in place are slim. That goes for most of the higher end staff. They will be “safe” (as safe as anyone ever is at Chelsea) simply because no one will want to come in to sit on their thumbs.

The ban can force Chelsea to look inward and use the tools they have. But it cannot be ignored that things will be tricky until the ban ends or is potentially revoked. Mistakes will be made and they will be costly in the short term. Fans must keep that in mind as they look forward to the potential of finally tapping into the academy and loan army.