What an eventful summer for the world of football. With the World Cup giving football fans, both new and old, around the world, a truly remarkable spectacle to see, there was never shortage of excitement. But now, with July coming to a close, football fans around the world will once again be treated with the start of a new Premier League season in just a little over three weeks. If one can remember all the excitement and drama of last year’s Premier League title race, this year’s race may prove to be even more entertaining with all of the top flight’s top tier teams making improvements to their respective sides. The Special One himself contends that the Premier League title is open to at least six different teams. However, let’s take a look at our Blues and see what Mourinho has done to develop his “little horse” squad further.
**Quick note: Notable Loanees returning to the club: Thibaut Courtois, Oriol Romeu, Romelu Lukaku, Kurt Zouma
Return from Injury: Marco Van Ginkel
The first major move was the signing of former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona at an approximate cost of £30 million. Personally, I love this signing. What Fabregas brings to the team is the unique playmaking and artistic vision that at many times we were lacking throughout the season. In games such as the ones against Aston Villa, Norwich, or Sunderland, we were lacking two things: 1. A spearhead striker at attack and 2. A playmaker to carve out the congested defense we were facing. Fabregas solves half of that problem with the other half coming in the form of a well known striker from Atletico Madrid…and no it is NOT Fernando Torres…Another positive of Fabregas is his versatility. While Mata’s level of playmaking and vision rival that of Fabregas’s [trust me I was crushed to see Mata go..], he didn’t offer the versatility and flexibility on the pitch that Fabregas does. Mata is really limited to the central role while still playing the wings though to less effect. However, with Fabregas, Mourinho can plug him in a deep-lying playmaker role either in the 4-3-3 or even in the 4-2-3-1 formations. Or he can bring him up to the 10 role while pushing Oscar back in a deeper role. He also brings a pedigree of success and winning mentality which honestly you can never get enough of in the locker room.
Next major move: The sale of fan favorite David Luiz. Though I loved Luiz as a character and as a fan favorite his play on the pitch, especially last season in the crucial games, definitely warranted this move. Throw in the major amount of cash we got from PSG…a whooping £50 million…this sale was a major win for Chelsea. Honestly, I don’t know what PSG were doing but hey, I’m not going to complain with a £50 million gain for a defender who can’t seem to control his head and show the discipline needed to play the position.
Next up is the raid of Atletico Madrid’s stars. The combined purchase of Felipe Luis and Diego Costa cost our Blues around £52 million. Luis provides instant class at the LB position after Ashley Cole’s departure and even though Azpilicueta’s brilliant revelation at LB last season, with Luis we can shift him back to his natural position at RB. Though I feel we may have overpaid a bit for a 29 year old defender, this is a great tactical pick up in my opinion. Luis worked with returning goalkeeper Courtois at Atletico for the past couple years. This will help Courtois adjust to a relatively new back four and give him a smoother transition as he works his way into his new place in front of Chelsea’s goal. Compound that with his proven linkage and communication with striker Diego Costa, this is Mourinho making sure his two stars are transitioning smoothly. With Costa, to be honest, I have not seen the guy play much and the times I have seen him I wasn’t overwhelmed or sorely impressed…but you really can’t argue with his goal scoring record..37 goals for a top class team is nothing to ignore. While many may point to Shevchenko’s previous record or Torres’ records for their former clubs, you have to consider the system’s they are coming from. With Torres, he came into a completely different system..Liverpool’s service and build up were completely different from Chelsea’s target man style. In Costa, you have a striker who has played on a team in Atletico who played in a similar fashion to Chelsea. With his proven record, Costa should be able to score at a much higher rate than our previous strike options at the very least…
The purchase of Mario Pasalic is honestly one I do not know much about. However, a recent loan move should allow me to follow him a bit more closely and see how he develops. The final sale [so far…] this window is the sale of Demba Ba to Beskitas for £4,700,00. Not much to say here…with Costa, Lukaku, Torres, and one more we will mention soon…Ba was set to go and I wish him the best.
The last but not least move was the re-signing of club legend Didier Drogba to a one year contract. This is a good move in my opinion. Drogba can serve as a decent option off the bench while also serving as a mentor for Drogba and Lukaku. Lukaku especially I feel needs that mentoring both on and off the pitch. More on that later tho…
Overall, a GREAT transfer window for the Blues. In total, we spent £85,000,000 but with the January sales of Mata and De Bruyne we brought in close to £100,000,000. With the new rules of FFP coming into effect, a brilliant showing by our front office and Mourinho. To be able to comply with FFP while our rivals continue to spend like there’s no tomorrow is one thing, but to have our depth and the world class quality that defines our squad is a thing of beauty if I may say. Mourinho and his staff are definitely showing the rest of the football world how to manage the team on the pitch as well as off the pitch.True Mourinho masterclass indeed. And again, thanks for reading guys!
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