Chelsea: A great transfer window sets the foundation for greatness

Chelsea’s transfer window was open wide and bringing in lots of fresh air but there were still a few areas they should have patched up prior to the closing.

Chelsea enjoyed a brilliant transfer window, seemingly the most exciting in recent memory. They just went out and signed many of the targets that their fans thought they should. Now that’s a great indicator! The fans wanted new attackers to complement Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham, and the irrepressible Olivier Giroud. And they got them, plus more.

On the attack, Hakim Ziyech, the Moroccan magician came aboard, and while he has yet to see Premier League action, can anyone feel that he will be anything less than a star? He is amazing with the ball and he will be a catalyst for seeing that his fellow attackers are well-supplied with gifts and goals. When he returns from international duty with the Moroccan National Team, hopefully the magician can slot right in on the right wing position and do what he does best, set up goals and score them himself. He’s a multipurpose goal-making player.

Then, at striker, they augmented an already solid twosome of the emerging Tammy Abraham and the always reliable French superstar, Olivier Giroud, with the second-best scorer in the Bundesliga last season, Timo Werner. Werner is a goal machine and while he has yet to open his account in the Premier League when he does it will be followed by massive deposits into Chelsea’s account that break the banks of opposing teams. It’s not a stretch to speculate that the Chelsea striker position now may be the best overall in all of football. The three amigos just score goals.

In addition, the club brought in one of the most talented and hyped young players in all of European football, called a “generational talent”, one Kai Havertz. Skeptics have already critiqued Havertz’s play to date in only four games as lacking. As he acclimates to a new league, a new home, a new country, all it will take is a bit of time until he begins to rip apart Premier League teams as he has already done to Barnsley with his first hattrick and to his international foes as a key member of the German National Team. Talent wins out and Havertz will do so, commentary by MLS coaching duds notwithstanding.

Chelsea also added a great backline star in the aging but still world-class central defender Thiago Silva. While a howler early in his Chelsea stay was unfortunate, bank on the great defender to be the backbone of the Chelsea backline going forward. He’s one of the best on the planet and he will not disappoint. Talent wins out and Silva is an uber-talent.

In addition in defense, they brought in the pacey English first team left back Ben Chilwell to upgrade that position. Chilwell has already brought dividends as he scored his first goal and first assist in the recent game against Crystal Palace. He looks like a great addition.

Adding to the talent upload is the keeper, the ultra-lengthy, and terrifically talented and underrated Edouard Mendy. Two games played for Chelsea, one goal allowed. Sounds like a solid foundation of excellence. Unfortunately, the lengthy Senegalese keeper was injured on international duty and is now out for the Southampton game most likely. A shame since Chelsea does not have a top backup who can be counted upon. Their best is Willy Caballero and he can be very good or poor. Hopefully, he is the choice if Mendy is out but it is likely that Kepa Arrizabalaga will get the call and that does not inspire confidence. Hopefully, Mendy returns soon to bolster the final line of defense.

Adding two young central defenders, Xavier Mbuyamba (out with a knee injury), and the highly thought of Malang Sarr who is evidently headed to Porto for the season were also two excellent future oriented moves related to the backline. Very well done by the club. They sewed up the signing of these two very promising and potentially outstanding additions to the central defense in a year or two.

A great window, indeed. But the club did fail to bring in cover at central defensive midfielder for N’Golo Kante the oft-injured star in the middle. Declan Rice, the West Ham wunderkind would have been the best option but West Ham’s outrageous transfer fee demands evidently were totally off-putting for the Blues hierarchy. So it didn’t get done. That’s a shame since Rice would have been the perfect complement to Kante in midfield. A shame, indeed. Maybe in January.

So that’s the tale of the transfers for the amazing transfer window of summer, 2020. The club flexed its financial muscle after two windows of inactivity and made great acquisitions that could turn the fate of the club in the future, and maybe this season, as well. While not even the most optimistic of the Chelsea faithful would predict a title this season, the club has surely laid the foundation for a run at the pinnacle of the league and Europe perhaps over the next few years. And who knows, if the injury bug stays away for the rest of the season, anything is possible.

The talent is there. It’s now a question of health, settling in, and coalescing. Those three factors achieved might just turn this really talented group of Blues into title contenders. It says here, don’t rule them out. Don’t rule them out at all.