In January 2023, Chelsea made 9 new signings including the loan of Joao Felix, spending a total of €329.50m according to Transfrmarket.
But what can these signings do in the long term to be successful for Chelsea, and are they already showing any signs? Let’s take a closer look.
Enzo Fernandez
The obvious place to start is of course Enzo Fernandez. Bought for a fee of €121m in January, Enzo Fernandez has been the standout signing for Chelsea since joining.
After winning the World Cup with Argentina in December 2022, Fernandez also collected the Young Player of the Tournament award. His performances throughout the World Cup had turned heads of top teams in Europe looking to strengthen their midfielders with a young, top quality talent such as Enzo.
Since joining Chelsea in January he has played every single game, 15 Premier league games and 4 Champions league games. This shows the importance already of Enzo to Chelsea and their picture of building a team around him for the future. The next step will be acquiring a natural DM (Number 6) in the summer to allow Fernandez to unlock his passing abilities in more attacking areas and create more chances for the team.
Enzo Fernandez has been spectacular for Chelsea
Fernandez will be a pillar stone in this Chelsea side and how he can be successful at Chelsea is very clear. Continue to do what he does best, controlling the game with his passing ability and creating chances with his progressive passing. Enzo can also win tackles in midfield (averaging 3.01 per 90) and block shots/passes (1.85 per 90).
By adding a more natural defensive midfielder (Number 6) to this Chelsea team, it will unlock Enzo’s full potential and allow him to create a midfield partnership to lead Chelsea to success.
Benoit Badiashile
Moving on to the French centre-back Benoit Badiashile. The French towering centre-back was signed for €38m from Monaco. The 22 year-old defender has played 10 games for Chelsea since arriving and has scored one goal.
The young left footed centre-back has become a fan favourite quickly since his arrival, his strength and composure on the ball has assured Chelsea fans that he is a very astute signing and will be very successful for the club going forwards.
This purchase goes hand in hand with another young signing made in the summer Wesley Fofana. Both young French centre-backs have been bought for the present and future of the Chelsea defence, with the potential to form a formidable partnership for the next decade.
Badiashile excels in progressive passing from the defensive third, shown by his 5.20 progressive passes per 90. This ranks in the top 91% amongst other centre-backs in world football, showing Badiashile’s ability to play progressive passes and start attacks from the defensive third in build up play.
Benoit also has a very strong and dominant frame standing at 6ft 4 in. He wins 2.44 Aerials won per 90, as well as 1.66 interceptions per 90. These defensive stats show his ability to use his strength and power to perform defensive actions for the team.
Mykhalio Mudryk
The young Ukrainian winger was signed from Shakhtar Donetsk for a fee of around €70m according to Transfermarkt with the potential to rise with add-ons. The 22 year-old has featured in 15 games for Chelsea since joining in January and has contributed 2 assists in this time.
However, Mudryk was a purchase for the future and the potential ability Mudryk could unlock. With his blistering speed, technical ability and excellent mentality, Chelsea believes Mudryk could be a star in the making.
The Ukraine international is extremely raw at this stage in his career, and clearly needs coaching and consistency to get the best out of him. Securing a top level coach (Pochettino) and allowing Mudryk to build consistency for himself within the Chelsea set up and the team, it will allow him to flourish for The Blues.
Mudryk could be utilized in a similar way to Son Heung Min under Pochettino, becoming a prolific goal scorer from the left hand side. Mudryk would offer a threat of going on the outside towards the byline and whipping balls into the box using his pace to beat the opponent fullbacks, but would also be a goal threat cutting inside on his stronger right foot.
We have already seen glimpses of what Mudryk can do in the Premier league, and you can see how much of a nightmare he will be for opposition defenders to stop, especially once he gets going at speed!
Noni Madueke
The last signing I am going to go into detail about is Noni Madueke. The 21 year-old English winger was signed from PSV for €30m. Noni has featured for Chelsea in 8 games so far, all coming in the Premier league, scoring one goal.
Much like Mudryk, Madueke was signed with the view of his potential at such a young age and what he could become if his talent is nurtured. Noni is a direct right winger, who likes to isolate the opposition defenders and beat them 1v1. This is shown by his stats on Fbref, completing 4.62 successful take-ons per 90 (ranking in the top 99% amongst other attacking mids/wingers), and completing 5.54 progressive carries per 90 (top 94% amongst other attacking mids/wingers).
Madueke has shown in his brief time at Chelsea his ability to beat a man and put dangerous crosses into the box, as well as cut inside on his stronger left foot to get shots away on goal. The idea of having Madueke on the right with the ability to go both down the line, and cut inside on his left foot, as well as having Mudryk able to do the same on the other side with his right foot would make Chelsea extremely hard to defend against and very unpredictable.
When looking into the future, this is how I see both of these wingers being a success for Chelsea. Adding creative sparks from both wings and causing the opposition defenders a lot of problems due to their ability to go both ways.
Other signings
The other January signings I will not go into further detail about are Andrey Santos (19), David Datro Fofana (20), Gabriel Slonina (18), Malo Gusto (19) signed in January but joining in the summer, and Loanee Joao Felix (23).
Santos, Fofana and Slonina I have decided to wait on as we have seen very little (if any) of these players in a Chelsea shirt so far. These are very young signings and all have high potential to succeed at Chelsea. Santos has represented Brazil U20 as their captain scoring 6 goals and winning the South American U20 Championships which earnt him his first Brazil senior cap.
Fofana and Slonina have both featured for the Chelsea U21 team since joining and it remains to be seen what their participation will be like with the first team for the next few years.
Malo Gusto was signed in January but was loaned back to Lyon as part of the deal. Gusto is a right back who was signed by Chelsea to provide depth and competition to the right side of defence after a year plagued by injuries for Reece James and the ageing nature of Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta.
And lastly loanee Joao Felix who has featured 17 times for Chelsea since his arrival, scoring 3 goals and recieving 1 red card which came in his debut against Fulham. Felix is an incredibly talented footballer, however it remains to be seen if Chelsea will go for Felix on a permanent deal.