Tactics and Transfers: Chelsea must capitalize on down market

Chelsea may be on the verge of greatness while needing very little change in order to do so. The Champions League may be up for the taking.

Chelsea won the competition this year and there’s a very good chance that they’ll have a great chance to do so again in the coming years. Given the outcome of Coronavirus on the economics of the football world, there’s a chance that this year was the best time to win the Champions League. The additional income provided through the TV revenue and the prize money will offset a certain amount of the cost accrued during the pandemic.

The reason that is so important is because the value of that is compounded by the fact that money is of more importance following the pandemic than ever before. Chelsea was already ahead of the pack a certain amount because of Roman Abramovich. With UEFA relaxing financial fair play due to the extreme losses the Coronavirus created for a huge amount of the teams Chelsea’s owner was already able to have outsize influence on the team’s transfer budget.

That is why the team was able to add 200 million pounds worth of talent without any fans in the stadium last year. That will likely happen again this summer with the other major spenders in Europe like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus financially crippled Chelsea will be the only game in town once again for the players whose goal is to move this summer specifically.

Some of the other English teams either through their ownership groups or simply the fact that the Premier League is a financial powerhouse all on its own will be able to add talent this summer and will rival Chelsea for some players. That said few outside of Manchester City have owners of the ambition that the Blues’ owner has practically defined in European football over the past decade and a half.

Winning the Champions League then, plus the influence of Abramovich will create something of a slingshot effect for the Blues. They will have added prestige and influence within the game to their financial might in negotiations.  The Blues must strike while the iron is hot and take this moment seriously. Now unlike any other time in the club’s history is the time to pounce.

If there was a year that the Blues were going to make a move like those for Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho, Declan Rice or Eduardo Camavinga, this is that year. The good news is that Chelsea will be buying in a down market and each one of those players is young enough to spend a minimum of four season with the club while growing in value. It wouldn’t be absurd for the Blues to even tap around the asking price for Kylian Mbappe at this point.

The market will eventually recover and at that point Chelsea will have had the players for enough time that the amortized value of each will be at such a level that the club could also make a huge amortized profit from each player should they move them on at ages 25 or 26.

That then would see Chelsea benefit financially even further from this period and that is why they must do it.

It’s nice to see that Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea have agreed with what I said to do for years. They shouldn’t add too many players just a couple of the actual best in the world. Not close to, not kind of, not similar to the best. The actual best players. It will raise the profile of the club, it will be useful in marketing and shirt sales and most importantly it will benefit the team on the pitch for the next 10-20 years.

That is why Chelsea must capitalize on the Champions League victory by returning to the well and going even deeper. Now is that time. They may not need to invest at this level again for a long time should they make the right decision this summer. They have a history of resting on their laurels in moments like this and that would be deadly. They can’t let their opponents breathe and recover.

If Chelsea are as aggressive as they can possibly be in the down market that this year has created they will reap the benefits for a long time and very possibly achieve what would once have been thought impossible, and win the Champions League yet again next year.