We are just past the halfway point in the Premier League 22-23 season and Chelsea is having one of their worst seasons in the last decade. Finding themselves in 10th place in the table, the ‘Blues’ have been on a rollercoaster ride that seems its about to get even wilder.
New Ownership
On June 2022, American business man Todd Boehly completed the acquisition of Chelsea from former owner Roman Abramovich. The Russian businessman was key for many years of sucess for the West London club, and subsequently of his departure, there is plenty of expectation on what does the new owner can bring to the table.
When Bohely took over he was officially named chairman and interim sporting for the club, and even though he has never been previously involved with football clubs, he is well known in sporting ownership and managment in the United States.
Changes where bound to be made, and after just a few months in, Boehly took drastic measures and sacked stranged manager Thomas Tuchel, who was fundamental in lifting the Champions League trophy in the 20-21 season. After this shocking move the american owner appointed englishman, and former Brighton & Hove Albion manager, Graham Potter to lead the new proyect. This bold move took everyone by surprise, and results have not been favourable as of yet.
Splash Cash Re-build
Even though Chelsea had already a very extensive and competitive squad, the first order of business during the current winter transfer window has been ‘splash the cash’ on any player Chelsea can get their hands on, no matter the cost, and no matter what other clubs are interested.
As of today, Chelsea have completed the winter transfers of: Mykhaylo Mudryk (£89m), Benoit Badiashile (£33m), Andrey Santos (£18m), David Datro Fofan (£10.6m), Joao Felix (£9.7m – Loan), Noni Madueke (£30m). The aforementioned players have been signed just in January 2023, so if you include the summer 22′ transfers of Fofana, Cucurella, Sterling, Koulibaly, Aubemayang, etc. There’s been plenty of money and new faces in the club all season. But this has not translated well to the pitch.
What’s The Plan?
It’s uncertain what’s the real plan behind all of this, or if Boehly even has one coherent course of action in mind. On the other hand, Graham Potter has plenty of work to quickly adjust on the pitch, since their number one objective for the remainder of the season is to make it to the top four, since missing out of a Champions League would be a huge financial and sporting blow for a team, which relies heavily on playing in the most important European competition in football.
Another uncertainty for the club is all the extra baggage the Blues have on their hands, some departures are bound to happen since Chelsea have a huge squad at the moment, which can only bring unnecesary tension to the players, and Potter needs to keep everyone on the same page if he plans to suceed on making a top four finish.
There’s plenty of expectation on this re-build, but time is not on Graham Potter side, and Todd Boehly may not be so patient to wait around for results from the English manager. Will the American owner be capable of turning things around, or will Chelsea implode sooner rather than later from lack of football planificationd and management experience?
