Chelsea FC Women: An Exercise in Operational Excellence

Why do the Men's setup operate so differently to the Women's setup?

For quite some time now, people have asked me about the difference between Chelsea FC and CFCW from an operational perspective. It’s true that the two sides could not be any more polar opposites. Chelsea FC Women are sleek, efficient and most often successful in the transfer market. Chelsea FC in contrast are erratic, reactive and often get it wrong, or at least don’t get it right immediately.

I’m going to try and at least shed a little bit of light into why, however, again some details are naturally confidential and to protect relationships, some steps and processes have been redacted. It’s also important before I start to preface that CFCW - particularly during the early Hayesian era - had the biggest benefit of all in that they had time to get things wrong and also make major upheaval.

However, even then, Hayes’ key modus operandi was to supplement younger quality with proven WSL quality and in particular proven winners, hence the captures of Gilly Flaherty and Chelsea FC Women captain Katie Chapman. The signing of Fran Kirby was also a watershed moment- previously Arsenal had simply monopolised the market and used their status as a full-time operation to attract and hoover up the majority of the top British talents on a consistent basis (but of course, this spending was acceptable because it’s Arsenal and ‘we do things differently’, it’s just big bad Chelsea nowadays that are outspending everyone…).

However, Chelsea paid the price that Reading wanted for Kirby - a pricely(!) £40,000 which meant ‘The English Messi’ swapped RG2 for TW18 (and later on KT1) and this was a key moment, because suddenly Chelsea became a very attractive side. Even nowadays, younger players - like Aggie Beever-Jones - talk about the impact of Kirby being at Chelsea. In some ways it was the equivalent of the Cosmopolitan 90s for CFC that saw international talents from Europe flock to the Kings Road. Chelsea were clearly prepared to invest and in Hayes they had a top young coach who was prepared to lay everything on the line for success. Discussing this could be a whole other article - and indeed - we’ll move on from this, but if anyone does want a very good book on this and the later period of it, I can thoroughly recommend Abdullah Abdullah’s Europe's Next Powerhouse? The Evolution of Chelsea Under Emma Hayes.

When talking specifically about transfer policy, it splits into two clear categories of signings. Firstly, you have the Hayes picks. These are players that pretty much were signed solely because she felt they would add something to the Chelsea side and bring in superior quality. Whilst some of them did have additional reasons behind it - I think by now everyone is aware of the beautiful relationship of former CFCW captain Magda Eriksson and her partner Pernille Harder - the majority were purely because Hayes willed it to be so. Her level of status and power at the club meant these were increasingly frequent as time passed on, and on the flipside, if Hayes deemed a player not good enough, this was usually a death-knell for their Chelsea career, save the odd exceptional case where said player either benefitted from a) extreme luck, b) a ridiculous turnaround in form, c) knuckling down and working their socks off or d) any combination of the above.

The last examples of Hayes having her way came in her final transfer window. Nathalie Björn was viewed as too good a bargain to turn up and Hayes saw her as a quality addition with Kadeisha Buchanan struggling for form, Aniek Nouwen injured and Millie Bright also struggling for fitness. The fee was extremely affordable and Björn made it extremely clear that as soon as Chelsea entered the race, there was no chance of her going elsewhere. The relationship between Chelsea and Everton is strong - indeed, CFCW actually have pretty good relations at management level across the WSL - and the deal was conducted swiftly, unlike Real Madrid who continuously lowballed for the player. Whilst it was a Hayes pick, other backroom staff involved in deals also felt it was a good move. There were some other names that were considered - Dominique Janssen held the necessary WSL experience that Hayes craved and again viewed herself as available in that window - but overall it was agreed that Björn was the sort of name the scouts might have recommended anyway as a stop-gap solution that had sufficient quality to be able to hold her own even when players returned from injury.

In contrast, Mayra Ramírez is an example of Hayes putting her foot down against other suggestions. When Sam Kerr suffered her anterior cruciate ligament injury last year, a new forward instantly shot to the top of the list for the Blues. A number of people within the club were keen on a move for Viv Miedema, who held a fractious relationship with Jonas Eidevall and was out of contract in the summer. It was felt she was available due to Alessia Russo usurping her as starting centre forward and again, if the money was right, Arsenal would not object. Persuading Miedema was probably going to be the biggest barrier, but it was felt that an attempt should at least be made. Hayes had already tried before to raid Arsenal, expressing interest in Katie McCabe during the final days of the 2023 January window, but again this was staunchly rebuffed.

Other names were also considered: Ewa Pajor at Wolfsburg (who would then join FC Barcelona), Elisabeth Terland (who would then join Manchester United in the summer) and even some very brief considerations around trying to attract Beth England back to the club, after she had left a year beforehand to Tottenham Hotspur were amongst some of the more tangible ideas. Ultimately all of these ideas were squashed by Hayes, who insisted on Ramírez. The Colombian had starred for her country during the World Cup and Hayes during multiple media slots had made no secret of her admiration for the player. Chelsea had done some very broad scouting of Levante, not necessarily specifically looking at Ramírez but it became very clear she was the only viable solution in Hayes’ mind. With her exit for the summer already confirmed, Hayes wanted to leave with at least one piece of silverware and Ramírez was viewed as the battering ram to achieve this.

Additionally, knowing that Levante were suffering from financial issues meant it was a simple matter of agreeing a fee. Chelsea, keen to get the deal done with minimal fuss, forked out a then-world record fee to bring her to West London.

On the other side of the fence, you have the more collaborative deals that are done with the immense hierarchy that sits alongside the management team. Paul Green’s a huge part of this and his position within the club should certainly not be undersold, but it is also important to note he has been given the agency and authority to act independently, or at least as head of his team without needless interference or background politicking, which ultimately does seem to be pervading Chelsea FC at the moment.

If nothing else, Green is extremely willing to work with others and is not interested in monopolising credit for a good decision. A generally private man, he lets his actions speak for themselves and is not constantly shifting sound bites or seeking platitudes through briefings and mouthpieces. Being fair though, I should acknowledge that women’s football in this regard is a long way behind the chaotic nonsense of the men’s transfer window and although the wheel is turning that way, it’s still much easier to find and acquire accurate information and build relationships, rather than sifting through garbage gossip columns and hearsay. One thing Chelsea Women did get right under Roman Abramovich was recognising the shift of the game from local to global as European markets became more accessible and players began to view the Women’s Super League with a more attractive eye following the league’s restructuring.

Chelsea invested heavily in upgrading their European scouting networks during the 2010s and this allowed them to pluck gems like Guro Reiten out of the Scandinavian market for extremely small transfer fees. This has only continued to grow further and one thing Clearlake’s ownership has done is amplify this. Since taking over in 2022, Clearklake have ensured the Blues have a presence or some kind watching all the key leagues and admiring top talents, not just in Europe, but now on a more global scale.

A great example of more recent effective European scouting is Wieke Kaptein - Chelsea scouted her multiple times despite her extremely young age and viewed her as the ideal midfield protege to support more experienced options.

Paul Green’s internal team - a closely knit operation - were able to speak to Kaptein’s agency several months beforehand to broadly gauge interest - before engaging FC Twente more formally to agree a deal. At this point, it was still a month before the window really opened, but CFCW were keen to steal a march, knowing the strong relationship that other clubs held with FC Twente amidst a concern they might try to steal a march. Chelsea not only met the asking price quite happily, they also sweetened the deal by agreeing to loan Kaptein back to FC Twente for a season. This gave her a chance to pay back the side to which she owed so much, whilst also giving Twente time to scout more robustly for a long term replacement.

The loan-back also stipulated that Kaptein was obligated to play a certain number of games (dependent on fitness) otherwise potential penalty clauses could be triggered. This also ensured Chelsea could keep a level of control on Kaptein’s development and indeed there were frequent conversations with members of Chelsea’s staff through the loan year to ensure she understood what was required of her. They also helped her understand the transition process on a more personal level - where she would be living, who she would be living with and other important details. One thing Chelsea have always been very good at - and this is true on both sides - is helping players and families settle. The liaison teams work very hard to try and ensure issues like homesickness or other problems are alleviated as much as possible. First impressions are critical from a CFCW perspective. Emma Hayes would almost always take it upon herself to personally research players from a footballing and personal level and in conversations with prospective new signings, would reference things ranging from their first team, to their last goal, to information about their hometown. Sometimes Chelsea would even look where possible to find a native speaker for players less confident in English to make these conversations feel less like a formal interview and more like a casual discussion.

With Sonia Bompastor’s arrival, nothing has really changed. She still has the ability to request certain players - again, the signing of Lucy Bronze was largely driven by Bompastor’s personal request. She knew of Bronze’s desire to win the UWCL with an English club, and also the fact that Bronze’s vast experience would offset the departures of Maren Mjelde, Fran Kirby, Ann Katrin-Berger and Jess Carter - who all had extensive WSL experience. Additionally, Bronze’s attitude on-and-off-the-pitch; a notoriously demanding trainer who is not afraid to speak out if she thinks standards not being met - was considered a very useful asset. Bompastor viewed Bronze as a semi-lieutenant, someone who knew her from her time at Lyon, as well as someone who knew the Lioness core within the team and crucially someone who would integrate quickly into the dressing room.

Bronze has become extremely popular in a short amount of time at Chelsea due to the above reasons, and her polyglot nature has been extremely beneficial in knitting together a very varied dressing room. Again, look out for a longer piece on her soon.

That said, Bompastor has generally adapted into the culture of the club from a transfer perspective very quickly. She was keen to exploit the French market more and her iconic status in the game has meant it has been easier to persuade the likes of Maelys Mpome and Louna Ribadeira - top young French talents - that the pathway to success lies in England rather than an inevitable eventual move to Lyon (usually via PSG). Additionally, the acquisitions of Sandy Baltimore and Oriane Jean-François also point towards Bompastor’s preference of signing younger, versatile players - Baltimore viewed as an option anywhere on the left, or perhaps even on the right side of the attack, whereas Jean-François provides apt cover for all midfield roles and in a pinch can even fill in inside the centre of the defence.

In many ways, she’s a great example of Chelsea scouting for long term solutions: you can well see a lot of the best parts of Sophie Ingle in Jean-François’ game, albeit the Frenchwoman is more mobile than her Welsh counterpart.

The ability to remain proactive rather than reactive has continued despite the managerial change due to the clockwork nature of the decisions behind it. The moving parts can change, the process remains the same because the overall goal is the same. At the same time, Chelsea FC Women are an extremely attractive team to join - arguably they sit alongside Olympique Lyonnais as the second best women’s team worldwide behind FC Barcelona - and this near cast-iron guarantee of trophies and success does definitely help secure certain targets.

The best way to summarise it is there are no egos or attempts to undermine others. It’s not a case of who shouts loudest gets listened to. It’s recognised that those that have the best footballing brains - whether an ex-player, coach or even a noted scout - should have the deciding voice in certain decisions, and above all, there is a clear coded plan of how to improve.

It’s these factors and this ability to work together that has turned Chelsea FC Women into an efficient, successful and ruthless transfer machine.

Rob Pratley