Chelsea Tactics and Transfers: Be patient as the transfer market changes

Chelsea FC, if the news is to be believed, will still be spending a substantial sum of money this summer despite the financial crisis created by the coronavirus.

Chelsea are reportedly still in the race for Jadon Sancho as well as targeting Lille’s Gabriel Magalhaes and, oddly, somehow Lautaro Martinez or Moussa Dembele plus Alex Telles. That the papers are suggesting this is even within the realm of possibility suggests just how much the coronavirus lockdown has turned into silly season.

With Hakim Ziyech already agreed and on his way in Chelsea will have spent £34 million pounds. That will come out of the reported £150 million that Chelsea earmarked for improvements this summer. Something about the Jadon Sancho move just seems to be destined for the Blues. Sancho wants it and Chelsea haven’t had a true star signing in a long time. A move like this seems to be the sort of thing the Blues would do as an avatar of the rebuild.

Until the first domino falls this summer we don’t know exactly how much the market has really been affected by the global economy. I suggested in a previous column that the days of the £100 million transfer are now over. Teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus simply don’t have the money at the top of the market that they used to.

Coronavirus may have created something of a reset for transfer fees and salaries, and that’s a good thing.

The Blues would be smart to wait until a major player has already moved clubs this summer before making their first significant move. Being the side that can set the market has benefits but also a great deal of risks. It is already rumored that Philippe Coutinho’s fee, for instance, is down from £101 million to £50 million.

Sancho’s deal will be too complicated to be first out of the gate, so Chelsea should maintain a good position on him while monitoring the rest. They should keep tabs on Sancho to see how much the upper echelons of the market have depreciated. Meanwhile they can sign players like Alex Telles for reasonable sums to plug the gaps.

Gabriel Magalhaes is an interesting player for Chelsea to be signing as he’s not all that different from the players Chelsea already have in his position. The only major thing being that he is, indeed, left-footed.

But he is still from the French division and rather untested at the top level while lacking the experience that would help pull together Chelsea’s rather young and inexperienced side. He could still be a good signing, but Ruben Dias of Benfica could be better. His fee has risen, but it could come right back down given macroeconomic trends.

Chelsea should be looking at players who they previously felt were too expensive and can get a true discount on due to the crisis. Where teams previously had to gamble on the unknown, the current state feels like a time more than any in recent memory where players will be moving for the sort of fees Chelsea can afford.

No one knows how different the transfer market is going to be in the times ahead. Luckily for the Blues it does appear that their now several years of prudent financial planning have them in the right place to take advantage of the dip in the market.

They should just make sure they maximize how they use it.