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Tactics and Transfers: January signings are necessary for Chelsea

By Barrett Rouen

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 02: Thomas Tuchel, Manager of Chelsea reacts during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on January 02, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 02: Thomas Tuchel, Manager of Chelsea reacts during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on January 02, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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Paris Saint-Germain’s French forward Kylian Mbappe (C) fights for the ball with Lorient’s British defender Trevoh Chalobah (L) during the French L1 football match between FC Lorient and Paris Saint-Germain at the Stade Yves-Allainmat stadium, in Lorient, western France, on January 31, 2021. (Photo by DAMIEN MEYER / AFP) (Photo by DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images)
Paris Saint-Germain’s French forward Kylian Mbappe (C) fights for the ball with Lorient’s British defender Trevoh Chalobah (L) during the French L1 football match between FC Lorient and Paris Saint-Germain at the Stade Yves-Allainmat stadium, in Lorient, western France, on January 31, 2021. (Photo by DAMIEN MEYER / AFP) (Photo by DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images) /

Chelsea should not have allowed itself to be in the situation it is in with the defense’s contracts. How that has been allowed to happen, nobody knows. This—following the sales of Fikayo Tomori, Marc Guehi and Kurt Zouma—looks not only bad, but negligent management and quietly should be addressed because it is completely unacceptable. It appears that Ms. Granovskaia has been penny smart but pound foolish in this regard. She is a great director, but questions must be asked.

In addition, because it has never happened before that a player like Kylian Mbappe is available, Chelsea would be foolish not to make an offer. He’ll turn it down most likely but offer him £400,000 per week and a massive signing bonus. Test the water—there’s literally nothing to lose. The same is true of Paulo Dybala. When players such as these are available without a transfer fee, you have to sound them out and make an offer. Even if you simply sell them on in a year or two, that’s good business. Put minimum fee release clauses in their contracts that activate in two years at reasonable fees. If they’re triggered, that’s an automatic profit.

At some point, the transfer game is simply about acquiring as much decisive talent as possible. Both Mbappe and Dybala have game-changing level ability and are available without transfer fees. They’ll both likely say no, but if you’re a giant and fancy yourselves to be one the way Chelsea does then it’s important to have these discussions. Sell them on the idea of London. Sell them on the idea of the Premier League boosting their brands in America and the emerging markets where it is the dominant televised league. Not to at least have coffee with their agents and representatives would be negligent, and again, something questions would need to be asked about.

Next. Thomas Tuchel is being fully supported by Chelsea Football Club. dark

Next week I’m going to address centerback signings as I don’t think that’s a position of as immediate need as the wingbacks. That situation is the most dire one in the Chelsea camp and fixing it would go a long way toward remedying the rest of the issues the Blues are dealing with.

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