Rumors are popping up that Chelsea expects to be able to buy in January. The fans have Jadon Sancho expectations and the club has Wilfried Zaha realities.
Chelsea understood that the transfer ban was inescapable. That is why they accepted it for the summer and went full speed ahead with the youth revolution. But that did not mean the Blues would not try to appeal for the January transfer window back and it appears as though the club is now confident of being able to buy in a few months.
But that really just creates a new set of issues. Chelsea fans have become enamored with the idea of Jadon Sancho on social media, mostly because of a throwaway line he had about being a Chelsea fan. Of course, fandom is fluid for players. Tammy Abraham was/(is?) an Arsenal fan, but he clearly is not angling for a move to North London because of it.
Sancho is the expectation fans are going into a new transfer window with but it is far from the reality. No, instead the only name that has really been consistently brought up in regards to Chelsea’s next transfer window has been Wilfried Zaha. Sancho is the expectation but Zaha is the reality.
Those differences in expectation and reality are sure to leave fans disappointed. There is really no reason as to why Sancho would leave Dortmund and even if he wanted to, it would not come cheap. Zaha, however, would gladly leave and it would only be Crystal Palace trying to stop it from happening.
But the real question is whether Chelsea actually needs a player like Zaha and the answer is almost surely no. Chelsea’s academy is far too good to simply buy just anyone to plug holes. That is how the club got saddled with Danny Drinkwater and Davide Zappacosta. Instead, the club should only be looking at players who are A: 100 percent sure bets and B: a clear upgrade over the players the club already has.
The ever excellent CarefreeYouth shared a list of five players Chelsea is supposedly considering: Ben Chilwell, Nathan Ake, David Neres, Jadon Sancho, and Moussa Dembele.
Chilwell is good but not a clear upgrade on Emerson, so he is out. Ake just does not seem top six quality at the end of the day and is not an upgrade over any centerback, fullback, or holding mid the Blues already own. Neres would be okay as a Willian or Pedro replacement, but that role could also be served by someone out of the academy. Sancho is incredibly unlikely but he would at least be a sure thing and an upgrade if it were possible. And Dembele is good, but he is not a clear upgrade on Abraham after just a few games.
If that is Chelsea’s wish list, it comes wanting. If possible, the Blues should strengthen as much as possible in January. It may not make a difference this season, but six extra months of bedding in could prove vital next season (see Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool). But any signing has to be a clear upgrade and a sure bet.
For an extreme example, Kylian Mbappe would be both an upgrade and a sure bet. Timo Werner would be an upgrade, but not a sure bet (considering his dislike of loud noises). Callum Wilson would be a sure bet, but not an upgrade. And Dembele is probably neither.
That is the kind of thinking the Blues need to be making if January is on the table. Fans need to understand that Sancho is not really realistic but the club needs to consider that Zaha is not a good enough signing either. The window needs to be used to strengthen the squad, not just reinforce the numbers. The next transfer window Chelsea has will be important and they should not mess it up.