There are 2 and a half weeks left of the transfer window, how do YOU want it to play out?
Keep in mind this may be our last active incoming transfer window for a little while.
Good Evening Ladies and Gents,
We are 16 days away from the 2024 Summer Transfer window closing and Chelsea have a lot of work to do, predominantly with outgoings but a couple of big reputation incomings potentially as well.
For me it is massive that we end this window properly especially with the dark cloud of a transfer ban looming over our heads potentially.
The outgoings are important but the incomings are pivotal IF we end up not being able to buy players for the foreseeable.
If you ask me, an incoming transfer ban would actually be a good thing, as Jai alluded to on todays podcast it would allow players to settle, grow and gel whilst still being able to disburse if any fringe/deadwood players.
Obviously it’s not an ideal situation and one that the current owners and hierarchy have inherited but for footballing reasons it may benefit us long term.
Anyway on to the point of this article, so for me we need to prioritise outgoings over the final 2 weeks if this window and get the squad down to a manageable number, any incoming player will be replacing an existing player so there are no additional players coming into the squad from a numerical standpoint.
We need to get good loan deals for a lot of the fringe/academy players that still have a potential future at the club and be ruthless with those that don’t and try to move as many players on permanently as we can, cut price fees should be accepted in order to save wages and ease any further PSR budgets.
From an incoming perspective, as you all know from yesterdays article I am massively FOR the Joao Felix signing (I know a lot of people aren’t) so I would like to see that done, I would also like to see a good deal done for Osimhen or even Toney and then the sale of Disasi with maybe Marc Guehi to replace him or failing that another top centre back to replace him.
I then think we can allow that squad to marinade, gel and come together over a period of settled time with no further incomings bar the already agreed and/or promotions from our U21s.
That’s my take on the rest of this window and what I would like to see pan out.
What do YOU want to see happen?
Thanks for reading and participating.
Luke Rushbrook
I think the main thing that concerns me personally (especially if we were hit with a transfer ban) is our Defense. While there have been some slight improvements in the back end of pre season, we desperately need a more solid Defense. Losing Silva and not replacing him in some way (as in an older, experienced defender coming in) is mental to me. And if we can’t sign anyone for a while, I’m certainly not confident with our options - particularly the fitness of each defender. We are just a couple of injuries away from being really vulnerable.
Other than that, I think Osimhen is a must and I’d really like to see Felix back in a Chelsea shirt. It probably won’t be a quiet end to the window, that’s for sure!
Given what we know of the current activity, I do think it makes sense for Chelsea to essentially complete the 3 rumored "swap" deals:
- Gallagher for Felix
- Lukaku and Casadei for Osimhen
- Chukwuemeka and Chalobah for Guehi
It would be great to have a better goalie as well, but that isn't going to happen given the current situation. After pulling in Felix, Osimhen, and Guehi. My final 25 would be:
LW - Neto, Felix
S - Osimhen, Jackson, Guiu
RW - Palmer, Madueke
LM - Nkunku, KDH
RM - Enzo, Ugochuckwu
CDM - Caicedo, Lavia
LB - Cucu, Veiga
LCB - Colwill, Badiashille
RCB - Guehi, Fofana, Tosin
RB - James, Gusto
G - Sanchez, Jorgensen, Betts
And then Acheampong, Kellyman and Tyrique George stay with the dev squad and get called up to the 1st team periodically
Of course this would also mean getting the following players (in addition to the ones involved in the swap deals) out on loan or selling them:
F - Sterling, Mudryk, Washington, Angelo, Broja, DD Fofana, Anjorin, Vale
D - Disasi, Chilwell, Humpreys
G - Petrovic, Bergstrom, Kepa
It seems like the hardest out of these will probably be Sterling given his current contract. It would be painful, but if they can't move Sterling, they perhaps will have to sell Madueke to Newcastle.
I really hope they are able to find Mudryk a good loan. He needs game time and I doubt he will get as much as he needs with Chelsea this upcoming season.