A former Chelsea boss, who was much maligned, has revealed that he wished to complete deals to sign superstar England internationals Harry Kane and Declan Rice. In the end, much of the money required was wasted on unnecessary and inept signings. Along with leaving Graham Potter with a ridiculously bloated squad, one that he mostly couldn't do anything with - in more ways than one.
Chelsea could have signed Harry Kane and Declan Rice, but didn't, even though it would have cost an absolute fortune
January 2023 is yet another instance of managers not controlling transfers, an absolutely absurd owner strategy which currently dominates elite football. Here there was a chance for the Blues to do what was desperately needed around a year and a half ago: add some accomplished, eminent footballers to the roster.
But Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and, I assume, sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart had other ideas. They spent big; some of the £300 million buys and loans went with the slightly proven yet very talented, such as Enzo Fernandez and Joao Felix.
The bulk of incoming players in the New Year were promising but unproven and with hefty price tags. Mykhailo Mudryk would be one example of that type; David Datro Fofana and Benoit Badiashile are others who had some experience.
A highly inexperienced though highly rated starlet joined too. One on which the jury will remain out for years. Andrey Santos came at a cost, €12.5 million is an incredible gamble; hopefully he reaches potential. Noni Madueke and Malo Gusto still appear to be adroit captures from this period.
Therefore then-Chelsea gaffer, Potter, had much work to do. He also had to devise training and match plans with an abundance of, admittedly, unwanted personnel. The 49-year-old divulged something else which shall simultaneously fascinate and frustrate Blues supporters. . A quote from the Englishman is below:
"...the ownership decided to invest a lot of money in the squad, £300 million in the January transfer window. Now, if you are spending £300 million on players that are coming from outside the Premier League, from countries that are having a mid-season break, then the reality is you can’t just imagine they are going to hit the ground running and everything’s going to be fine.Graham Potter
But, obviously, if you spend £300 million, the pressure on the team goes up and the pressure on the coach goes up. And people go: ‘Come on then, you’ve spent all this money'.
I think if I’d have spent it on Harry Kane and Declan Rice, then fair enough, but at the time that was the decision. We tried to support it as best we could, but it left us with a challenge of a lot of players after January and then they can’t go anywhere."
How the Blues could have lined up with Three Lions pair in the starting lineup - wow
What the former Brighton & Hove Albion head coach really wanted was a couple of authentic world-class players. I've been working on a hypothetical contemporary CFC XI that includes both Kane and Rice. And what a team! Again, you can see what The Pride of London devised underneath this paragraph:
Robert Sanchez; Marc Cucurella, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Reece James/Gusto; Moises Caicedo, Rice; Cole Palmer; Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke; Kane.