Welcome all to the Chelsea FC summer transfer window review here on LondonsFirst.
Today we’re going to go over Chelsea’s incomings during the window.
With another busy summer under the belts of sporting Directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, let’s see if their signings are ready for Premier League superstardom or are destined to flop.
Every player will get a score out of 10 for how good the transfer is in a variety of factors – age, price, squad competition, etc.
I will also point out one key thing that each player must do to consistently have a chance at making the starting eleven. Ready? Okay, let’s do it.
Tosin Adarabioyo – 6/10
Signing on a free from Fulham at the start of the window, Tosin has effectively been selected as the replacement for the now departed Thiago Silva.
Now in terms of ability, Tosin can’t hold a candle to Silva. However, he has proved himself as an experienced head in defence since coming in and for free its hard to scoff at a market opportunity like that.
In a summer where the likes of Joachim Andersen goes for £30 million, a free Tosin does just fine. I don’t expect him to pull up any trees, but he will be a useful player who others in the squad can learn from.
MUST DO: Be consistent. Chelsea’s defence has been anything but consistent as of late. Becoming our new Azpilicueta, giving a 7/10 every game, would stand Tosin in good stead.
Estevao Willian – 9/10
For me, the most exciting signing of the window. Estevao Willian will join the blues from Palmeiras next summer. An initial fee of £28 million, rising to £51 million if add-ons are met, it is a steep price for the young Brazilian.
However, when you see him play you immediately understand the hype. An incredible turn, light on his feet, a strong dribbler and an eye for goal. He’s just been called up to the Brazil national team at just 17-years-old. Some are calling him the new Neymar, others are just in awe of a young kid with so much talent and flair.
Due to arrive next summer owed to European rules, he has the ability to take this side up a level.
Regardless of what you think of Clearlake and the ownership, we never made signings like these under Roman. They were reserved for the Barcelona’s and Real Madrid’s of the world. Now Chelsea have skin in the game.
MUST DO: Get people off their feet, be exciting, take risks. Show us why we bought you and avoid injury above all.
Omari Kellyman – 2/10
A talented boy, no doubt. But let’s call this for what it is, us helping out Villa in a double PSR swoop that saw Ian Maatsen go the other way. Kellyman plays in a role where we already have a lot of competition in the squad.
Unfortunately, he seems unlikely to ever play for Chelsea. And at £19 million, that’s an expensive favour.
MUST DO: Prove people wrong, he needs to show others like me that he’s here for a reason. Otherwise, he’ll only be here for a season.
Marc Guiu – 6/10
I like Marc Guiu, his work rate has impressed many whenever he has played so far this season. He’s determined to do well for Chelsea and despite only moving for £6 million from Barcelona owed to his release clause, he has shown small but exciting glimpses of his talent.
I don’t think he’s ready to be starting in the first team this season. He has looked comfortably quite lost at times among Premier League opposition. Yes he works hard and that needs to be merited, but with already a few high profile chances missed, its important for him to get game time out of the spotlight and pressured environment Chelsea often creates.
For me I would send him on a loan, still, for £6 million, he’s slightly more than free for a club of Chelsea’s size and an exciting prospect for the future while still so young.
MUST DO: Score goals. If you score goals, it doesn’t matter how old you are.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 4/10
4/10 might even be a little generous. KDH has flattered to deceive since arriving at Stamford Bridge. Logic would dictate the young Englishman would settle in relatively quickly and impress. He knows Enzo Maresca and the system that is required of him to play and yet, whenever he has played, he has comfortably looked a step behind everyone else.
He’s supposed to be a step ahead. Now I understand he’s coming back from injury and it’s a new environment, teammates etc, but many said when he signed that a key positive is that he would not need time to bed in. It was clear that is not true. I still think he can be a serviceable squad player this season.
However, its hard to see what we gave up for KDH in Gallagher. KDH just seems like an inferior version in every metric right now.
MUST DO: Work hard. Even without the things that saw him score and assist in the Championship last season, working hard and making as few mistakes as possible will get Chelsea fans onside with him quickly.
Renato Veiga – 6/10
The Portuguese international raised his fair share of eyebrows when he signed for Chelsea from the Swiss league this summer. At DM, CB and LB, he truly appears to be a Swiss army knife in this Chelsea team.
He will see a lot of minutes this season for his utility. Whilst I thought he might not be ready to step up his game from the Swiss League to the Premier League, he has made the jump pretty well and has been decent so far.
For £12 million, it’s not hard to see why Chelsea signed him.
MUST DO: Keep impressing in moments and take the opportunities when they come his way to cement himself as a squad player. There will be a lot of competition in his spot next summer.
Caleb Wiley – N/A
Unsure what to go with. As he was bought for Strasbourg, he is largely irrelevant to Chelsea as of right now. Seems a talented boy though.
MUST DO: Give Chelsea something to think about with his Strasbourg performances.
Filip Jorgensen – 6/10
Signed from Villareal for around £20 million, Jorgensen looks like a steal next to £25 million Robert Sanchez. The big Dane hasn’t played much for Chelsea yet and when he has, it’s been alright.
Decent with his feet and seems a good shot stopper from close range. It remains to be seen if he will move the needle enough to displace Sanchez this season.
But in all honestly, it’s not a high bar to clear, so I reckon he does establish himself as Chelsea’s number one this season.
MUST DO: Not make mistakes. Sanchez is bound to make one too many eventually, and looking like a safer pair of gloves is the number one way to nail down a starting spot.
Pedro Neto – 7/10
£54 million from Wolves this summer, Pedro Neto represents a distinct upgrade on the outgoing Raheem Sterling and Mykhailo “all filler, no killer” Mudryk.
Quick, a 1v1 specialist, an assist machine with a good cross, he can be the difference maker on Chelsea’s left-hand side this season. He will need to perform to justify his fee, it can’t all just be easy on the eye.
With any luck though, he will be able to settle and show his quality for the team. We will need goal involvements from him if we want to achieve our objectives this season.
It’s not without its risks for the price, but he’s a solid player, he’ll be fine.
MUST DO: Stay fit. You can have all the talent in the world and it all means nothing without staying fit. The best ability is availability.
Joao Felix – 5/10
Felix is the biggest mystery in Football for me. How can a player with so much talent fail to perform anywhere outside of Portugal? I’m partially left to believe that perhaps he has simply been unable to stay settled since moving around so much and now he has found a permanent place in the Chelsea squad, there should be unfinished business here.
He scored a solid goal on his second debut versus Wolves and will need to keep making an impact to justify his £38 million price tag. I have been particularly harsh on him for his lack of end product and there are question marks over where he will play, but it has to be this season Joao, it has to be.
MUST DO: Do better than his loan. Needs to show improvement on the Potter era, especially in his final weight of pass and finish. There is a player in there. Can Maresca get it out of him?
Aaron Anselmino – 6/10
Another one for the future. Boca Junior’s highly touted centre back product has been bought and loaned back by Chelsea for around £13 million.
It’s a relatively low risk at that price for a kid of his talent. The Argentine league is no easy one, he will be used to the physicality that the Premier League will bring.
It just remains to be seen whether he will become an Antonio Rudiger for us or a Papy Djilobodji. Time will only tell on this one.
MUST DO: Keep impressing. The kid has proven he has the talent, now he needs to prove he has the mentality, with more eyes on him than ever, it’s vital for him not to buckle under the pressure a big club brings.
Jadon Sancho – 5/10
Jadon Sancho finally gets his move to Chelsea five years too late. United was the wrong move for him and his very public fall out with Erik Ten Hag soured the relationship. In comes Chelsea to the rescue.
Sancho is on loan with an obligation to buy, so he’s effectively already a permanent transfer. If he can rediscover any of the form that made United buy him, we’ll be laughing. But it’s been so long since he played at that level consistently. It could very much go either way for him, similar to Felix.
MUST DO: Attitude adjustment. PlayStation and being overweight are no excuses not to perform at Chelsea. United is a circus so you can get way with acting like a clown. Not here.
Needs to grab his opportunities with both hands, If he comes good and is serious about his career it will look like a masterstroke.
Mike Penders – N/A
Seems a talented boy and very tall. Two very good traits for a goalkeeper. From what I can work out he is highly lauded as one of the best GK prospects in world football. However, it will be a long time before he plays for Chelsea owed to his age and experience.
So, he gets an N/A, it’s impossible to tell how this move will look in the future. Never say never though, it could be one to watch.
MUST DO: Prove he’s better than what we have now in Jorgensen and Sanchez. If he can do that at Genk this season, he will get a chance to be the number one very soon.
Overall incomings rating – 5.6/10
The final score of 5.6/10 (taking the scores of those who had them and finding the average) you can see that this was an okay window overall.
In terms of individual incomings, we made some good value for money signings that will be strong squad players for us this season and hopefully in the seasons to come.
Estevao is the jewel in the crown (alongside Paez but that was last summer). However, it can’t be overstated that apart from Estevao who arrives next summer and maybe Neto depending on his performances and fitness, there are no needle movers in this list.
One could argue that the squad in general got worse when you consider outgoings like Santos and Ugo on loan, losing Gallagher and what we’ve replaced them with.
The four-window strategy is done. However, the squad still needs a lot of work.
This window can also be defined by what we did not buy, that being an elite goalkeeper and a big striker to play foil to Jackson.
When looking at the singings in that context, they’re okay, not spectacular, just okay, is that a high enough standard considering the money spent, just okay?
It’s up to the players signed to prove that they were worth the money as this ownership will be quick to cut loose those not doing enough.
It is bound to be a crazy season for sure, Let’s hope Maresca can get a tune out of them.
