Chelsea are still pushing to sign Victor Osimhen
Unlike Mauricio Pochettino, who started to express his frustration at Chelsea transfer activity within two months of signing on as manager last summer, Enzo Maresca has towed the party line. The Italian, who is already the third permanent head coach under the watch of sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, has little choice.
It is the two backroom figures that call the shots at Cobham, supported by controlling owner Behdad Eghbali and recruitment specialists Sam Jewell and Joe Shields. Maresca, who is very much a head coach, is dealt the cards they give him.
This time 12 months ago, Pochettino’s calls for a senior striker went on through pre-season and into December. He mellowed throughout but showed more than a hint of unrest at the group he had been working with in the weeks leading up to his eventual split.
Maresca is a different beast entirely but has so far been willing to go along with the deals that are completed in the backrooms of Cobham and Stamford Bridge. He has seen last year’s most selected player leave, the only new striker being an unproven 18-year-old, and Thiago Silva replaced by a free agent from Fulham.
Handed with an enormous selection of players to pick from, Maresca was not afforded the chance to work with Trevoh Chalobah before he was excited. A state of eternal flux exists in the frontline, and the 44-year-old has to face the media to explain all of these publicly confusing decisions.
Soon that will be all over, though. There are just days left of the summer window, and attention can turn towards the football once more. Beating Wolves 6-2 was a good way to respond for Chelsea and Maresca after a weak game that saw them take constant blows from outsiders.
But the job is certainly not done for Chelsea. Maresca’s bomb squad is still huge, and although this does not impact him on a day-to-day basis, the inefficiency of having over 15 senior players train alone but eating a wage is not lost on anyone, and it’s not sustainable.
To correct some of the mess that’s still lingering behind the scenes and to make Maresca’s life as easy as possible during a hectic period, football.london has taken a go at managing proceedings for the last week of the summer transfer window. With the caveat that it should really be stepping into the shoes of the sporting directors, let the games begin…
Osimhen joins
Chelsea might feel vindicated in their decision to keep chopping and changing Maresca’s attackersafter putting six past Wolves, especially with Nicolas Jackson scoring and assisting. But the fact the Senegalese striker’s lack of sharpness – to attribute the mistakes – cost Chelsea twice against Manchester City on the opening day shows the gaps that still exist.
Jackson is a tremendous player who can offer enormous amounts to his teammates even if clinical finishing doesn’t yet come into his repertoire. He will have a serious load to carry in Europe as well as domestic cup competitions if Chelsea don’t add to their stocks, though.
Marc Guiu is raw and not yet demonstrably good to provide in the Conference League, let alone Premier League, and would be a spot too high as backup to Jackson. Both Joao Felux and Christopher Nkunku can play as an orthodox No.9, but both prefer to be with a mainstream focal point rather than doing an impression of themselves.
Maresca certainly has the options to keep his striker fresh, but Osimhen cannot be ignored right now. He is readily available on the market, and all parties would benefit from a move. Chelsea cannot let the chance slip to get him across the line now and with football.london in charge; he’d probably already be through the doors at Stamford Bridge.
Cut the wider attack
It’s easier said than done to offload players on huge wages who were signed within the past two years but if Chelsea are going to continue the ruthless streak that has seen them sell Gallagher and isolate Chalobah elsewhere, then the same should be done with Mykhailo Mudryk. He is the outlier here.
Although not on the same wages as Raheem Sterling, his output is much lower and the tactical understanding cannot even be compared.Mudryk did not make the most of his pre-season minutes and it is noticeable that even indirectly, four of the six goals against Wolves came with Pedro Neto on the field.
Selling the Ukrainian will not happen, and perhaps shouldn’t anyway, but he will not gain from being behind the host of left-wingers already in the group.Chelsea looking at Jadon Sancho in their attempts to get Sterling out should be enough proof that Mudryk’s spot is not secure.
What Mudryk really needs is to grow away from the constant pressure of the world of Chelsea. Sancho doesn’t answer any of the questions still left either, and stemming the flow of change to this area of the pitch is vital if Maresca wants to get a similar performance level from his team again. Cohesion is required, and that doesn’t come from new names every few days.
Mudryk is already going to struggle to get in ahead of Chelsea’s myriad of versatile attackers; Sancho might offer something more readymade, but simply getting rid of one name outside of the squad in Sterling to add another to Maresca’s thinking isn’t a recipe for success.
And the rest
This part doesn’t really impact the first team, like Maresca has made clear, but Chelsea really do need to get their stars off the books. Starting with Romelu Lukaku – a deal that seems to be close to completion now with Napoli – there is work to be done.
Kepa Arrizabalaga to Bournemouth on loan is a rogue exit, but suggestions of him extending his contract to avoid free agency next summer come as a surprise. Surely Chelsea really just need to get him out of their thoughts.
Armando Broja’s transfer to Ipswich stallingraises questions again over who will pay over £25million for a player with fitness issues and a recent record lacking first-team football and goals. Carney Chukwuemeka has more to offer, but Chelsea selling him would be hasty, so reconsidering the loan stance here is a better option.
Cesare Casadei, David Datro Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Angelo Gabriel, and Djordje Petrovic will need to seriously consider their futures, though, and sales at this stage look necessary. If a rogue senior player was to leave, then Axel Disasi is perhaps the one to look at.
Chelsea have been linked with signing a new centre-back in recent weeks and have too many players for too few positions at the back as it is. There aren’t too many names to throw into the ring, but Marc Guehi is a player already used to the London surroundings who is expecting to move this summer.
Newcastle have made the move to get him, but if Chelsea enter late, they could disrupt a second deal for the Magpies, just like they did with Tosin Adarabioyo.
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