Chelsea’s January Window looks to be OVER, despite reported late efforts to sign Ousmane Dembele via Sky Sports reporter Gary Coterill who stated there was a flurry of late activity and that Chelsea had enquired about the player, but it has not come to anything, which is not surprising.
Chelsea have made no first team signings this window, and have caused fans to be very angry on social media, mainly due to not securing a LWB.
Emerson, who is on loan at LYON, was open to coming back according to multiple sources but Chelsea failed to agree a compensation package with Lyon, offers up to £3m were rejected and it remains to be seen if Lyon will use the buy option of around £12m at the end of the season.
Emerson is rated by Thomas Tuchel and would have been an easy fit into the squad having already played in the 3 at the back systems and worked with the team mates currently at Chelsea.
Emerson scored a goal off the bench vs Atletico Madrid at home in the Champions league last year, and would’ve provided Atleast competent depth or be a good enough starter for the rest of the season.
Chelsea now have a problem, but do those above see it that way?
They’ve recalled Kenedy who was on loan in Brazil at Flamengo, and Tuchel has already discussed the idea of playing him at LWB, other than that, there’s obvious faults to Marcos Alonso’s game and Malang Sarr has had a few good games at LB, however it remains to be seen if he can continue his form, especially in the UCL.
In Chelsea’s defence, does it make sense to buy or loan a LWB now until Chilwell is back and risk that player being another “ Flop “ or is that a scouting issue?
Factor in the fact that Ben Chilwell is out for 6-9 months and recovery will be hard, as Will getting back to the same form as pre injury, there’s no guarantee that Chilwell comes back firing, so would it have not made sense for Chelsea to BUY and invest in a top LB / LWB this January, Sell Marcos Alonso in the summer, perhaps loan Maatsen and Emerson again, or ideally sell Emerson, and then have the new top LWB start, while Chilwell can then slowly be integrated back in and eventually fight head to head for the position just like so many of Manchester City’s players do?
The Key to success in depth is not quantity, but quality and the ability to impact when called upon.
I reached out to Sports Scientist DR Rajpal Brar for his view on the Chilwell situation, and it seems to line up with the thought that Chelsea should have done business in this area not just for this season, but next.
“ So once you have surgery, partial or full is immaterial because they’re doing a full reconstruction. What will help him is the fact he was able to do that 1.5 months of prehab which then gives him a stronger foundation and floor post surgery, however the first season back is typically a reintegration & reacclimation process – physically & mentally “
DR Rajpal Brar explains.
Baring this in mind, Will Chelsea rush to bring Chilwell back, or do we start next season with Alonso and Sarr again, and slowly integrate Chilwell? The best option from here on out would be to secure a deal for Borna Sosa perhaps, a LWB in Germany playing for Stuttgart, who has already clocked up an impressive 13 assists in 1 and a half seasons.
Tuchel will also surely be a tad annoyed, Ousmane Dembele was being pushed out of Barcelona this month after not agreeing a new contract, a deal could have definitely happened this month that’s for sure.
Chelsea would have been obvious suitors with Tuchel and Dembele forming a formidable relationship at Dortmund which saw Dembele leave the club after Tuchel did, and it’s expected that Chelsea will go back in for him in the summer.
Dembele would’ve made sense from a upgrade stand point on the current attackers, however there is the factor that Chelsea do have 7 options currently playing LF or RF, and there is only space again for 2 wide AM’s when Tuchel deploys the 4-2-2-2 formation, with recent reports of unrest in the Chelsea camp, particularly from attackers moaning about a lack of game time, is adding an attacker the right move now?
I can somewhat see where Chelsea would be coming from, however on the flip side, you can argue that you simply back Tuchel, and make that clear to the players if they come forward and express their concerns to board members, which can be all too common at Chelsea when things aren’t going a certain players way.
LF / LAM : Hudson Odoi, Pulisic, Werner
RF / RAM : Havertz, Mount, Ziyech.
Frustrations are evident on social media as Chelsea fans are naturally and rightly annoyed there was no strengthening this window even with consistent injuries.
Perhaps a pre agreement for Jules Kounde or Aurelien Tchouameni would’ve lightened the mood, but it looks like Chelsea will be battling for their top targets with a host of European clubs in the mix next summer, rather than securing them months in advance, a risky move if you ask me.
