Rating Chelsea’s summer transfer window business

Now that the last transfer window in Europe has been closed for over a week, Chelsea fans can hope off the latest emotional rollercoaster.

The transfer window has seen the signing of 12 different players while over 24 players moved in the opposite direction (with some bought and immediately loaned out).

There’s already a review of the transfer window on the site here so this will be an alternative review grouping the club’s transfer business – both the incomings and outgoings – under four different buckets: Good, Wait and see, Head scratcher, and Bad.

Incomings

Good

Pedro Neto: This player is an epitome of the BlueCo strategy but done outside the club. This is a player who had high potential as a youngster, has had regular game time to develop and is now becoming a consistent high-level performer. Arguably, he is the only player that immediately raises the level of the playing squad. Barring his injury record which the fans hope can be properly managed and thus reduced, this is a perfect transfer even considering the transfer fee paid.

Wait and see

Tosin Adarabioyo: He has been brought in as an opportunistic signing to be a squad option and to provide numbers in defence. It’s clear at the moment that he does not raise the level of the team immediately despite being at an age where he should be close to his peak and he’s only on this list due to arriving on a free transfer.

Renato Veiga: While Chelsea fans were expecting the club to get into a bidding war with Arsenal for the signing of Ricardo Calafiori, news broke that the club had signed a certain Veiga from Basel instead. This transfer shocked everyone as it literally came out of nowhere partly due to the thought that the club was making moves for Calafiori. Clearly brought in as a low risk, potentially high reward player.

Caleb Wiley: The original reports indicated that he was to be signed by Strasbourg before being signed by Chelsea and then loaned to Strasbourg for remainder of the season. Perfect description of the Clearlake recruitment model.

Filip Jorgensen: He makes this list as a few scouts have him as one of the goalkeepers with the highest potential (along with Gabriel Slonina and Mike Penders) in the squad.  Another classic Clearlake signing. However, it has to be said that it does not look like he immediately improves the level of the goalkeeping department.

Mike Penders: Another classic Clearlake signing whom many scouts in the footballing world see as a player with a very high potential. Touted as a future Thibaut Courtois.

Omari Kellyman: Classic Clearlake signing, but with a twist of being purchased due to Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR) complexities.

Marc Guiu: A mix of a classic Clearlake signing and an opportunistic transfer due to having a low release clause at Barcelona. Currently not a Chelsea level player but could very well be.

Aaron Anselmino: Another typical Clearlake signing. The transfer seems to be in line with moves by the club to sign the brightest talents from South America.

Estevao Willian: Classic Clearlake signing. The only reason why he is not in the “Good” category is that while Messinho clearly has world class potential, potential is only one variable in how good a player eventually becomes. While it’s true that without the high potential, a player is capped at how good they can eventually become, it is only one of the factors that determines how good a player eventually becomes and since a lot can happen between a player’s teenage years and when they hit their sporting peak, it is best to reserve judgement on this transfer.

West Ham 0-3 Chelsea reaction with Jam

“WE BURST YOUR BUBBLES”

Energy 📢🔋

🎥 | @Carefree_Jam pic.twitter.com/6W6cuWvDDq

— The Chelsea Social (@TheChelsSocial) September 21, 2024

Head scratchers

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: This transfer has to be top of the list. For what it’s worth, he doesn’t look like a better player than Conor Gallagher. Also, how exactly does he raise the level of this team now or in the future? While people point to the fact that he narrowly missed out to Crysensio Summerville in emerging as the Championship Player of the Season, Chelsea are not a Championship club and the step-up in quality from the Championship to the Premier League is significant. To put this in perspective, Aleksandar Mitrovic scored 43 league goals during Fulham’s 2021/22 Championship season but only managed 14 league goals in the 2022/23 Premier League season for the same club. That said, it’s too early to judge what he brings to the team as the current sample size of matches needed to draw reasonable conclusions is too small. But even at this point, it’s hard to understand what exactly the point of this transfer was.

Joao Felix: He clearly wasn’t in the club’s plans until the deal for Samuel Omorodion fell through and since getting a player from Atletico Madrid was necessary for the club to get its desired pure profit from the Gallagher sale, he was purchased instead. This transfer makes this list as even at this point when he should be entering the prime of his career, no one really knows his best position on the football field. There’s discussion about his best position being that of the second striker but the club already has Christopher Nkunku who is currently being moved around in a bid to find a suitable role for him in Enzo Maresca’s setup. How does Maresca manage to find a solution for both Felix and Nkunku?

Jadon Sancho: The links started as rumours, but ultimately became a reality on the transfer deadline day. To be fair, this could also be in the ‘Wait and see’ category, but from a squad balance perspective, it’s hard to see how this transfer makes sense.

Jadon Sancho x Christopher Nkunku ⚡️

🎥 | @ChelseaFC #CFCSocial | #CFC pic.twitter.com/X31i9xxoYv

— The Chelsea Social (@TheChelsSocial) September 16, 2024

Outgoings

Good

Raheem Sterling: To be honest, Sterling was a disappointment. For a transfer the fanbase was excited about, the return on this investment has been poor. He was supposed to be the talisman, the experienced multiple Premier League winner, the standard setter, and this was reflected in the transfer fee forked out despite having only a year left on his Manchester City contract as well as the wages he was offered. The less said about his time here, the better.

Omari Hutchinson: A successful execution of another part of the Clearlake transfer strategy. A youngster with high potential brought in for free, given a development path and sold after two years at the club for a sizable profit.

Thiago Silva: All good things come to an end. Having mentored the younger defenders at the club, it was time to pass the torch.

Malang Sarr: His disappointing time at the club finally came to an end. The best outcome for all parties involved as the player gets to enjoy regular playing time again while the club gets his relatively sizable wages off the payroll.

Tino Anjorin: The academy graduate clearly doesn’t have a place in the team as things stand so leaving permanently was the best outcome for all parties.

Romelu Lukaku: One transfer that seemed like the final piece of the puzzle when he came in as shown by the transfer fee and wages he commanded. Again, the less said about his time here, the better.

Jamie Cumming: Similar case to Tino Anjorin.

Bashir Humphreys: Similar case to Tino Anjorin.

Diego Moreira: This sale looks like a win-win-win, and it also made sense as the club looked to carefully manage the limited overseas loan spots (six). This transfer however looks like a multi-year loan in reality as Strasbourg gets a player that wouldn’t want to go there without the links to Chelsea, the player gets a sure development path for years to enable them move from talented, high potential player to dependable star with consistent output, and Chelsea retains the easy option of buying him back from a sister company if he becomes as good as he can be.

Caleb Wiley: Similar situation to Diego Moreira, but his transfer to Strasbourg was a dry loan.

Andrey Santos: Similar to Diego Moreira, but again, his transfer was a dry loan. With the glut in the Chelsea midfield, this move was essential to prevent his development from stalling for a year.

Lesley Ugochukwu: Similar to Andrey Santos but loaned instead to Southampton.

Alfie Gilchrist: The move seemed to be a natural progression in the academy graduate’s development path after his breakout season last year.

Kepa Arrizabalaga: With Real Madrid passing up the opportunity to sign him permanently and with him no longer having a future at the club, getting his wages off the payroll and transferring to a club he is likely to join permanently at the end of the season looks like the best outcome for all parties.

Djordje Petrovic: Came in last season and did a solid job for the team in the absence of Robert Sanchez. The fact that there isn’t an uproar about this exit shows that the fans didn’t see Petr Cech level performances from him last season as while he was decent and solid, he was not excellent. As he’s still a young keeper, playing as a regular starter in a top five league gives him the opportunity to develop even further this season and gives the club the time to see how he develops. Strasbourg also get a player who would not normally agree to move to their club without the links to Chelsea. Another win-win-win scenario.

Eddie Beach: No space in the Chelsea squad for the academy graduate now. It would be surprising to see him even feature as a part of the first-team in the future. Great move for his development and marketability as he would most likely have a good career at another club.