Ranking every Chelsea summer signing out of 10

Kalidou Koulibaly – 9/10
Chelsea lost two centerbacks for free this summer. Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen were very important players for Chelsea, with Rudiger making 33 league appearances for Chelsea last season en route to finishing 3rd. Christensen was important in his own way, as Thiago Silva got limited minutes due to fitness and had to share those minutes with Christensen. This meant that CFC needed to get some CBs through the door that were of the level of the ones they just lost.

Koulibaly is most definitely of that level, at least. The Senegal international has been one of the best centerbacks in world football for the past five years. His anticipation and reading of the game are outstanding. All these factors make him a superb signing for the Blues. Furthermore, Rudiger was also a leader, and you can’t get any more “leader” than a national team captain in Koulibaly.

Marc Cucurella – 8.5/10
Chelsea needed a left wingback that could also be a starter if they needed him to be. They got that in Cucurella. Ben Chilwell was coming back from a long-term injury and it was impossible to know if he’d come back as the Chilwell that got injured in that Juventus game. The Cucurella signing became increasingly important as the former Leicester City man looked quite poor in preseason.

Of course, Marcos Alonso was originally supposed to be Chilwell’s backup, but he ended up playing 28 league games last season, and so with Chilwell just returning from injury and Marcos leaving for FC Barcelona, CFC was essentially looking for a starting left wingback. Yes, he cost more than Koulibaly and Sterling but when you’re buying priced assets from your domestic league, you should expect to pay a premium.