NikoM

World Champions, qualified for the Champions League, João Pedro looks sharp, Estevao's about to join the squad and Maresca genuinely seems to know what he's doing with the lads - not all that bad, things actually look to be heading in the right direction!

A huge talent—only 17 and already comfortable playing on both the left and right wing. He reminds me a bit of Doku at City. Very skilful, quick, and hardworking. A regular starter for Sporting Lisbon, and he’s already proven himself in the Champions League. I really like him and genuinely see him as a top-level winger. You can catch a glimpse of his ability in this highlight from the Sporting-Porto game last month: https://youtu.be/-IHQT6-HgcE?si=xqaNMYUSJcbYkLAE

When assessing our squad depth, it is hardly surprising to question how a club that has spent over a billion pounds on players still finds itself lacking serious, high-impact individuals. Instead, our substitutes’ bench often features unproven youngsters such as Mathis Amougou and Aaron Anselmino. The reason for this predicament is, unfortunately, quite simple: recruitment. Since Boehly and Clearlake took control of our Chelsea in the summer of 2022, their transfer strategy has been extensive but, in many cases, ineffective. A closer look at our signings over the past three seasons reveals a significant number of transfers that have provided little or no positive impact on our current squad. In the 2022/23 season, we spent £232.1 million on players with no or minimum impact on our current team: Mudryk (£60 million), Sterling (£47.5 million), Koulibaly (£33 million), Badiashile (£32.7 million), Chukwuemeka (£20 million), Casadei (£12.5 million), Aubameyang (£10.3 million), Fofana (£10.3 million), Slonina (£5.8 million). The following season 2023/24, we invested £172.6 million in another set of signings with no or minimum impact on our current team: Nkunku (£52 million), Disasi (£38.5 million), Ugochukwu (£23.1 million), Sanchez (£20 million), Petrovic (£12.5 million), Washington (£13.5 million), Angelo (£13 million). Most recently, in the 2024/25 season, we spent £138.9 million on further transfers with no or minimum impact on our current team: Felix (£42 million), Dewsbury-Hall (£30 million), Kellyman (£19 million), Veiga (£11.8 million), Anselmino (£15.6 million), Amougou (£12 million), Wiley (£8.5 million). Therefore, across these three transfer windows, we have spent approximately £543.6 million on players with no or minimum impact on our current team. Meanwhile, we’ve offloaded our highly experienced and homegrown players such as Kante, Kovacic, Gallagher, Azpilicueta, Hudson-Odoi & Lewis Hall. Additionally, we overpaid for certain players, such as Enzo (£106.8 million), while also signing talented yet heavily injury-prone individuals like Fofana (£70 million) from Leicester City. Despite these missteps, there have been some positive transfers. Across these three seasons, we made several good signings: - 2022/23: Cucurella (£55 million), Madueke (£28.5 million), Gusto (£26.3 million), Andrey Santos (£18 million) -2023/24: Caicedo (£115 million), Lavia (£53 million), Palmer (£40 million), Jackson (£31.8 million) -2024/25: Neto (£54 million), Estevao (£29 million), and two potentially good transfers, yet still hard to determine whether good or bad: Sancho (£20 million) and Jorgensen (£20.7 million). Overall, ever since Boehly and Clearlake took over control of our Chelsea, they have got rid of 99% of the pre-Clearlake squad, making just 14 good transfer deals—if we include Enzo and Fofana—but technically only 12, as we have yet to see Brazilians Estevão and Santos pull on the blue shirt. Adding to that list our two academic products, our young and currently struggling Levi Colwill and our unfortunately injury-prone captain James, and considering Tosin and Chalobah as only temporary solutions, we are still left with only 14 to 16 arguably very good players in our current team after three seasons since the takeover. With so many transfers completed over the past three years, I wouldn’t call this a job well done. Considering our continual struggles with injuries and fluctuating individual form (Sancho, Enzo, etc.), I fear there is Still a long way to go. Particularly considering the fact that this is only Maresca’s second full season as a first-team manager, meaning that—like most of our players—he is still adjusting to the Premier League, learning, and honing his managerial skills. Final Thoughts Everything considering, there's a long way to go, so let's try to back our team, be patient, and hope the future brings many more happy Blue Days. Up the Chels!

From what I know... In the 2021-22 season, Adeyemi excelled for RB Salzburg, emerging as their best player by scoring 23 goals (19 in the league and 4 in the Champions League) and making 6 assists. He also played 4 games for Germany, scoring once and providing an assist. In the second half of the 2022-23 season, he became one of Borussia Dortmund's key players, scoring 9 goals and providing 5 assists. Last season, 2023-24, he was slightly less effective due to injuries, but he played a crucial role in Borussia's Champions League campaign. Overall, he scored 5 goals and provided 3 assists. He did miss nearly 14 Bundesliga games last season due to ankle and muscle injuries. At only 22 years old, our Sporting Directors likely see great potential in him. He has the potential to explode and start overperforming, although, as with many young players, it is a bit of a gamble.

He's very good and has immense potential, although he's quite similar to Madueke. I think he can also play on the left wing.

I don't think we need him. We already have too many similar players who are younger. So far, we've signed four players, and I don't reckon any of them can improve our squad compared to last year. He'd just be another unnecessary signing, and again we might end up with 25-30 players in the first team.