Once again, it became very clear this week that Chelsea are not anywhere near competing for the biggest prizes in football. If you want to do that, you surely have to win games against teams like Qarabag, with all due to respect to the Azerbaijani team, who were brilliant as they managed a 2-2 draw against Enzo Maresca's side. The Club World Cup triumph over the summer appears to have been nothing but a mere plaster over the cracks that have existed at the club for years.
Chelsea have managed to capture themselves in a never-ending cycle of hoping for a better future instead of trying to get things done in the present. As a result, they have never really been able to compete with the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. In fact, even making the Champions League has become a difficult task for a club that was almost always there during the Roman Abramovich era.
Lately, we have seen Chelsea being linked with some proven players though. One can only hope that there is some truth to those rumours.
As reported by Fichajes. Chelsea are preparing an offer of around €80 million to sign Rodrygo in the winter transfer window. Sources close to the Brazilian international indicate that he understands he is not a key player under the management of Xabi Alonso and could ask to leave the club in January if a convincing offer comes in.
Chelsea readying €80m offer to sign Real Madrid player in January
Of course, one can definitely question whether Rodrygo is a great enough player to make that kind of an investment. Over the years, we have seen many succeed in that Real Madrid bubble, only to struggle badly, or fail to meet the expectations, after leaving.
Rodrygo is struggling at Real Madrid already. This season, he has not scored a single goal and has mostly been an option to bring off the bench for Alonso.
That being said, he has had problems with consistency even before Alonso's arrival. Let's take last season as an example. In December and January, he found brilliant form. Over the run of five La Liga games, Rodrygo scored three goals and had five assists. A sensational return, no matter what you think of him as a player.
But then, he lost his form and did not score or assist in the Spanish top flight for the rest of the season. This is not the first time something like this has happened either. Rodrygo is someone who looks like one of the best in spurts but ordinary for the most part. In many ways, it is something Willian used to do during his time at Chelsea. But is that the kind of player who will take the Blues to the next level?