With
the arrivals of Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva this week, are Chelsea now
Premier League title contenders? The topic was debated on the latest
Transfer Talk podcast...
The defenders join a squad that already includes new signings Timo Werner
and Hakim Ziyech, with Kai Havertz expected to be the next superstar name
through the Stamford Bridge doors.
But with this new-look - and expensively-assembled - squad, will we see
Chelsea rivalling Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the Premier
League table next season?
ESPN football expert Julien Laurens is not so sure.
He told the latest Transfer Talk podcast: "I think this season is too early
to compete with Man City even without Lionel Messi and with Liverpool, I
still think they are too far ahead.
"But third is an absolute necessity because anything below that is a
disappointment with this squad. They probably should add a goalkeeper
somewhere so if they do that, it's even better. But with a squad like this,
the pressure is on (Frank) Lampard to finish third and, for me, anything
less would not be a success.
"Then you need to finish closer to Liverpool and City than you did this
season when they were far, far behind, and start bridging that gap a bit,
showing you can get there in the games against City and Liverpool and that
you can compete.
"Maybe you need more consistency against other teams to be able to have the
conversation about winning the title the following season. For Frank Lampard
to have all those riches and all that talent, finding the right formula
might take a bit of time, especially with a very strange pre-season because
of the pandemic.
"Roman Abramovich knows all the signings are great but he knows a lot of
them haven't played in the Premier League, they've played in very different
teams, different leagues, different styles of football with different
managers and common sense tells you they need time to build something very
strong and very good.
"When you face teams like City and Liverpool who will just be continuing
what they've done for the last two seasons, they have so much continuity, so
much momentum and so much confidence that to catch them, you need to get up
really early.
"I think we could give Lampard a pass right now on the title challenge
properly, but third is a necessity, then bridging that gap a little bit and
then the following season you really go for it."
Sheth: Abramovich 'reinvigorating' Chelsea
The past two transfer windows have seen no incomings at Chelsea, one due to
a transfer ban and another of their own choosing.
But owner Roman Abramovich is throwing his weight behind Lampard with the
summer spending so far and Sky Sports News reporter Dharmesh Sheth says it
has been described as a 'reinvigoration' of the Russian's Chelsea love
affair.
"Chelsea are going for it - absolutely incredible," Sheth added on the
Transfer Talk podcast. "Forget about consolidating a place in the top four,
to me, they look like they're going for the title next season with what
they're doing. Two windows without any signings and they are certainly
making up for lost time.
"But of the top 10 teams in the Premier League last season, they conceded
the most goals (54), which is astonishing by a team that ended up finishing
in the top four.
"What Abramovich has done, people have called it a 'reinvigoration' of his
spending and his love affair with Chelsea being rekindled. They couldn't
sign anyone last summer anyway and I saw what they did in January as a
calculated risk. They were odds-on to finish in the top four but they didn't
sign anyone and that was a risk to me, but it paid off and they just about
got into the top four.
"Lampard's had his free hit. He got the Champions League place Abramovich
would have wanted as a minimum so that's done. But with these signings, it's
a different scenario now at Chelsea and make no mistake - Abramovich is
going to want to see results and trophies. He's sacked managers before for
doing better than Lampard did last season.
"He's sacked Jose Mourinho twice, Carlo Ancelotti did the double in 2010 but
finished second in the league and got sacked, so I think Lampard is well
aware that Abramovich is going to want to see results.
"It should be said though in regards to the spending, I know Chelsea have
got this reputation of spending huge amounts of money, but if you look at
what's happened in the last couple of season, they could potentially recoup
£200m from Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata and, if or when Havertz comes to
the club, you're only looking at a net spend from that of around £50m.
"So when you look at it that way, they've signed all of these players and
just about spent the Hazard and Morata money plus a little bit more.
"Financially, they've been very astute and I don't think you can
underestimate the role (Chelsea director) Marina Granovskaia is playing in
this whole situation. Abramovich is the figurehead but Granovskaia is the
one you see there next to the player when the contract is being signed. She
is the constant now."
Laurens: Silva still has it, Sarr a clever
signing
Silva was confirmed as Chelsea's new centre-back on Friday, joining the club
on a free transfer after his departure from Paris Saint-Germain.
And Laurens thinks the 35-year-old still has plenty to offer, saying: "If
you saw him in the Champions League recently, he did so well against the
likes of Yussuf Poulsen with RB Leipzig, who is not one of the top, top
strikers, but he is still physically very imposing and I think Thiago
responded so well. Then in the final against Robert Lewandowski, even if he
hit the post in the first half, I thought it was a really good performance
from Thiago.
"I think he still has it, even if he's 36 next month. I think Chelsea signed
him because he was on a free and they've spent so much money on other
positions, even in the unexpected deals - I don't think they wanted to sign
Havertz, but because he's there and there's that possibility, you cannot
miss that opportunity.
"So you don't have money left for a Dayot Upamecano or a Kalidou Koulibaly
or centre-backs like that, so you go for the cheap but good option which is
Silva. In terms of leadership and what he will bring to the dressing room,
he's still really fit and his reading of the game is one of the best I've
ever seen in any generation, any club or any league. The way he reads the
game is incredible, he's such an intelligent defender and his positioning is
pretty much always perfect.
"Of course, there were times in Paris where he was playing too deep, there
where times where he didn't really trust his own pace and maybe the way the
team was playing, and that cost them, especially in that game against
Barcelona in 2017.
"But, for me, he still has it and can play in a back three or a back four,
he's right footed and can play on the right or left side of the centre-backs
and he will have that great mentality that Lampard was looking for. Lampard
very much sold him the project as, 'I need leaders, I want leaders and
you'll be one of the best leaders in that dressing room', and I think Thiago
really liked that."
There has been another incoming from France too with 21-year-old Malang Sarr
arriving from Nice, and Laurens has earmarked him as one for the future.
He added: "I think it's a very clever signing. He's made mistakes before,
let's be honest, he's not the finished article at all and he's not perfect.
He's left footed, which is something Chelsea don't have at centre-back but
he's not one for now. He'll go on loan and that would be great for him.
"Maybe even the following season he could be loaned out in England to get
even more English football experience, but they certainly see him as a very
interesting prospect for the future. If he keeps improving and if he gets to
a standard where he's good enough for Lampard and Chelsea, I'm sure he will
come back to the club - a bit like Kurt Zouma did - and that could work out,
but it could also not work out and they sell him.
"But it's a win for Chelsea because if they sell him in two years' time,
they make a profit on him because they just signed him on a free. If he
turns out to be good enough, they will use him and I think he could
potentially be a very good player for them, so it's a very clever signing
again."
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