Chelsea made eight signings in the winter transfer window, splashing £300+ million, on signing players like Mykhailo Mudryk, Enzo Fernandez, Benoit Badiashile and others. CFC now have a potent squad capable of pursuit of multi-dimensional success. With eight new arrivals, Chelsea’s senior squad now comprises of a whopping 33 players.
Chelsea will be facing Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 but prior to the beginning of the knockout stages, each team had to submit their Champions League squad, with three new additions.
Despite having some mammoth signings, CFC could only register three new players, that too, if they remove one player from the squad. Each team is only allowed to have 17 non-homegrown players in the squad. With 33 players in the squad, it was obvious some players would miss out and Graham Potter would have some tough choices to make.
The Chelsea squad for the knockout stages of the Champions League was finally announced with Mudryk, Fernandez and Joao Felix being added to the squad, whereas Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed out. Potter also had to make the decision to leave out Badiashile out of the Champions League squad. Will it come back to haunt Chelsea?
Chelsea defender Benoit Badiashile has been left out of Champions League squad
Badiashile was signed from AS Monaco in the January transfer window for a fee of £33 million. The Frenchman made his Chelsea debut against Crystal Palace, forming a rock solid partnership with Thiago Silva and keeping a clean sheet as the Blues won their first game of January.
Badiashile started against Liverpool too and was calm and composed in the rearguard, helping the Blues keep another clean sheet. The 21 year old also started against Fulham and looked flawless alongside Silva. He completed 50 out of 52 attempted passes, made three important clearances. Badiashile won the possession three times, made two crucial interceptions and gave away zero fouls.
Badiashile has been showing class in his early Chelsea days and is making the £33 million fee look like a bargain for CFC. Whenever the Frenchman has started for the Blues, they have managed to keep a clean sheet. The 21 year old is unfazed by the pressure and looks comfortable on the ball. He has always been regarded as a progressive passer and has been a dominant force in the air. Badiashile’s performances have overshadowed Kalidou Koulibaly, jumping the Senegalese in the pecking order.
It does come as a bit of a surprise that CFC have left a player of Badiashile’s quality out of the Champions League squad, especially, after the pieces of evidence of his quality that he has given in recent games. However, some tough decisions had to be made and leaving the former AS Monaco man out was one of them. Only time will tell if Chelsea made the right call.
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