The positives from this year’s transfer window

€30-million. This is the overall fee we paid for our newcomers Marco Van Ginkel, Andre Schürrle and Mark Schwarzer and the new season has already started. We haven’t spent very much compared to previous seasons or at the first reign of Mourinho. However, there are a lot of positive things we can and should mention on how the board has acted on this year’s transfer market despite haven’t signed any big-name player.
Didn’t spend the (ridiculous) big money
Many may suggest that Chelsea has lost the ‘dominance’ it had for many years in the transfer market. Main targets as Falcao or Cavani went to France instead of West-London and they beat us at our own favorite game, the money-battle.
I really wanted Chelsea to sign Cavani from Napoli (because of our desperate need for a need striker), but after PSG signed him for €64m, I was relieved that we didn’t pay this enormous sum for a single player (and the same story with Falcao). I’m generally happy that we don’t involve in too many bidding wars, which can put prices unnecessary high. Our club is famous as a high-spending team and logically other teams are trying to get the best out of us. The market is diverse, so if somebody isn’t available, we can look for other options.
Look for alternatives if a player isn’t available
As I was mentioning different options, looking for suitable alternatives is very important. We spent quite a long time searching for a new striker and after missing out on Cavani, Falcao, Lewandowski, Gomez etc. for different reasons we have found another ideal player: Wayne Rooney. Our main target, Mr. Rooney, wants to leave Manchester United, but Moyes insists him to stay and it isn’t unlikely that he is going to.
As for the players mentioned before, there are second-choice options for Rooney ready too. Samuel Eto’o and most recently Jackson Martinez from FC Porto or Rodrigo from Benfica are further alternatives we could consider if Rooney is forced to stay.
Be patient on a player
Another positive aspect we showed this year is the patience we have for the haunt for our ideal man, Rooney, while other teams, as for example Arsenal (what an awful example that actually is), has already given up. Abramovich was never a patient man; managers with little success could get the sack faster than would think so. And on transfers, the Russian billionaire sometimes tends to be impatient too; he easily accepts an overpriced fee, which a president/owner demand.
Patience, however, certainly can be seen as a negative point because we lose a lot of time and work on one player we might not get. The patience will only pay off if we manage to turn Rooney to the blue-side.
Trust the own/young players
We spend quite a lot money on young players the recent years and by signing many big-name players every year won’t give these high-potential players any chance. Players we already have will get the chance to establish themselves into the first-team, as for example Kevin De Bruyne, who looks promising as a right midfielder. It would have been a lot more difficult for the Belgian to impress if we went for a big-money transfer for a new right-winger, for example Hulk. Young/youth players will certainly get chances in a balanced squad that isn’t too big too.
FFP will come sooner or later
The Financial Fair Play will play a role sooner or later in the upcoming years. Mourinho said that we’ll cope with rules of FFP, and it is about time that we show it.
Get player we need
We needed a dynamic box-to-box player who can make our game quicker and more efficient, and a fast player in the attacking midfield who should also create squad depth. With Marco van Ginkel and Schürrle we have already made two very good signings. And Mark Schwarzer is a player we desperately needed, a solid replacement for Cech.
How we deal(t) with David Luiz
David Luiz became a hot prospect for two very attractive clubs in football: Bayern München and FC Barcelona. It is very difficult to keep a player as Luiz, who is great modern defender, away from these European giants. Mourinho turned down (laughable) offers by Barcelona around €30m and he apparently managed to persuade Luiz to stay.
Price tag him at €50m remind me of how other teams negotiate with Chelsea and I really liked this price tag a lot, which would end in a win-win situation. Either Luiz is going to stay or Barcelona is going to overpay for him even if they pay well below the €50m-mark.
Players on loan, just as much as necessary
One of our biggest mistakes we made last season is to loan out too many players who proved to be players we needed, and which minimalized our squad depth. We have a couple of players out on loan again this year, such as Marin or Oriol Romeu, but not as many as last year and certainly not as important.

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There are still two weeks left to wrap up a deal for a new striker. I really hoped that the Rooney-saga would have ended before the beginning of the new season, but Manchester United is playing hardball on this issue.
These are some positive aspects I mentioned and certainly there are also things we have to improve in our transfer market activity. Generally, I’m very happy to see the progress we are making, and maybe there will be a surprise by the end of deadline day.
How is your opinion on this year’s transfer window? Please write your thoughts in the comments! Jonny (@jonny9fan)