Chelsea fans were made to sweat on the transfer deadline day but they had a reason to smile in the end.
After a dull opening few weeks, the Blues eventually managed to sign Marcus Bettinelli, Romelu Lukaku and Saul Niguez in the recently concluded summer transfer window. The fans would have liked a new central defender, with the European champions having been strongly linked with Sevilla defender Jules Kounde throughout the window.
Thomas Tuchel has done brilliantly at Chelsea ever since arriving in January. The German tactician’s team has started the new season brightly with two wins and a draw in the opening three games. Let’s take a look at what the summer signings will bring to the team.
Ins
Marcus Bettinelli
Chelsea signed goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli on a free transfer from neighbours Fulham in July. Having released veteran Willy Caballero following the expiration of his contract, Bettinelli has been signed as his replacement and he’ll be Tuchel’s third-choice goalkeeper behind Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy.
Bettinelli, 29, is an experienced goalkeeper having made over 230 appearances across the tiers of English football. He’ll add a lot of value to the Blues squad.
Romelu Lukaku
Chelsea broke their transfer record by signing Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan for a record fee of £97.5 million to bolster their squad and address the one area of the Champions League winning team which was lacking.
The Belgian international, 28, made an immediate impact on his return to Chelsea, helping Thomas Tuchel’s side to a 2-0 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. He scored in the first 15 minutes on his second debut for the Blues and bullied Arsenal’s defence throughout the game with his pace, power and physicality.
In the 1-1 draw with Liverpool, Lukaku wasn’t at his best, yet helped 10-man Chelsea to a hard-earned point at Anfield. It is still early days but Romelu Lukaku is a top acquisition and will score a lot of goals for Tuchel’s side.
Saul Niguez
Chelsea sealed the signing of Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez on a season-long loan with an option to buy in the final hours of the summer transfer window.
Saul, 26, is an experienced player and a proven winner who’ll instantly boost the Blues’ options in the middle of the park, whilst adding depth to the squad. The Spaniard will be part of the midfield rotation alongside or behind Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Outs
As many as 19 players left Stamford Bridge this summer, including the releases of goalkeepers Willy Caballero and Jamal Blackman. Among those, Olivier Giroud, Tammy Abraham and Kurt Zouma were three high-profile departures for Chelsea while Fikayo Tomori also made an exit.
Chelsea recouped almost £90m in player sales which will hold them in good stead financially despite addressing almost all of the concerns in the team.
Giroud left the Pensioners to join AC Milan despite having signed a one-year contract extension, while Abraham and Zouma needed game time after falling down Tuchel’s pecking order in their areas of the pitch and will look to reignite their careers with AS Roma and West Ham respectively.
The Chelsea fans will hope Billy Gilmour and Ethan Ampadu have solid loan spells at Norwich City and Venezia respectively.
Transfer Window Rating- 8.5/10
Genuine title challengers
Considering the marquee signings of Romelu Lukaku and Saul Niguez, Chelsea are now hot favourites to win the Premier League title. Tuchel is a tactically adept, smart tactician who has shown his ability to get the best out of the players at his disposal. If he can keep the core of his squad fit and firing, especially the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Antonio Rudiger and N’Golo Kante, the title is destined to head to Stamford Bridge.
Failing to sign a centre-back after selling Zouma could prove costly in the long run, though and is something the board will be better prepared to address by the time the next transfer window comes around.