Chelsea 's Transfer Policy

Chelsea may be leaving their biggest business later than usual this summer, but it’s been another window of impressively shrewd recruitment. In my opinion, it’s un-disputable that Chelsea have lead in the transfer market since Mourinho’s return. Chelsea may have splashed out £281m during this period, just £6m less than Man City and £8m less than Manchester United, but net spend is a meagre £80m.

Likewise, Jose completely transformed a squad that finished 25 and 14 points off the top in the two seasons prior to his re-arrival at SB, replacing those who oozed style but lacked substance with signings that brought the roster closer to his own image.

It can cost clubs unimaginable amounts of time and money to change the backbone of their team. Look at Man U for example, who have almost outspent Chelsea. and still nowhere near to competing for a league title ! , Jose has completely changed the spine and the ideology of his starting XI for significantly less and justified it by claiming the EPL title.

Of course, Chelsea’s loan farm operation is an enormous advantage. in some instances it provides an exclusive talent pool to dip into, Courtois being the most obvious example.But whether by coincidence or design, the club must be given huge credit for discovering a model that circumvents their limits under Financial Fair Play. Without the loan army, Chelsea would struggle to compete financially with the likes of United, City and PSG. Even with it, Chelsea are still behind the big three; Bayern, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

In the current transfer window,Chelsea’s spend is £58m, a modest sum compared to the last two summers. Yet, I see a club meticulously insisting upon value for money, taking into account they already possess a squad that won the league with games to spare last season and thus expect any deal to be made on their terms. Sterling may already be proving an integral component of a new-look Man City side, for example, but they effectively took six months to reduce Liverpool’s valuation from £50m to £49m. Hardly an exemplary piece of business.

Even in Chelsea’s smaller deals for less integral areas of the squad, I see an unrivalled shrewdness when compared to the rest. Begovic could easily hold down a No.1 berth at a regular CL side, so to sign him for just £8m and convince him to bean understudy to Courtois is the best possible outcome to replacing Cech.

There is perhaps no signing that represents Chelsea’s consistent ability to find fantastic value in the market better than last week’s arrival, Pedro. Pound for pound, he’s easily one of the best – if not the best – for a mere cost of £21m. After all, we’re talking about a player still with plenty of gas left in the tank at the age of 28.

You only need watch the Spaniard’s debut for Chelsea – a one-goal-one-assist display against West Brom last Sunday – to realise how incredible a player he truly is; blessed with all the technical quality you’d expect of a Barcelona star yet further enriched with an incredible positional perception, a relentless work rate off the ball and the understanding of the responsibility it takes to be a team player rather than simply a very capable individual.

Throw in his ability to play anywhere across the front, his renowned consummate professionalism and his high regard throughout the sport as a humble and modest man, and it simply amazes me Manchester United had the audacity to haggle for less. In a nutshell, he’s a world-class player and a world-class team member who didn’t cost Chelsea a world-class sum.

Chelsea may be about to break type in the transfer market, with reports suggesting they’re trying to broker a last-minute £70m deal for Juventus star Pogba. Likewise, the expected £40m bid for Stones following his transfer request at Everton isn’t exactly cheap. In fact, you could argue it’s extortionate considering his Premier League career to date consists of just 47 games. Yet, these investments are worth taking financial risks.

That being said, if there’s any two youngsters in European football you’d bank on having an incredibly prosperous future, it’s probably Stones and Pogba. Where others are seeing risk, Chelsea are seeing shrewd long-term investments.