Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and Chelsea’s backroom staff have completed their primary objectives for the season with some excellent recruitment and now it is time for Graham Potter and his squad to deliver on the pitch. January transfer number eight was confirmed by the Blues after deadline day with the arrival of Enzo Fernandez in a British record transfer deal worth £106.7million from Benfica.
Potter was in desperate need of more options all over the pitch with injuries plaguing his squad and signings made in the summer not offering a desired impact and it’s fair to now say he has been given that. £323million has been spent by Chelsea in the winter window, with Fernandez joining several forwards, a new centre-back, and two players for the future.
Joao Felix and Mykhailo Mudryk have already shown in brief stints the impact they can have going forward for Chelsea, while Benoit Badiashile has helped stabilise the Chelsea defence alongside Thiago Silva. Despite only two days having passed since the end of January, already more shrewd recruitment seems to have been completed in January when compared to the summer.
Potter was awarded a significant amount of time to just focus on his Chelsea squad over the last two weeks, with their FA Cup elimination meaning a free weekend, while transfers were being handled by those in the boardroom. Friday night will now offer the opportunity for Potter and his players to set the precedent for the remainder of the season as they take on Fulham in a west London derby.
Ahead of the game, following the arrival of more players, with January moves not being secured by Hakim Ziyech or Conor Gallagher, two players of interest to many clubs, Chelsea’s first-team squad is looking rather bloated, but Potter has insisted he looks on it in a positive light.
“I think challenge is the right word but I’m not complaining about it. It’s exciting and a test for me, of course, and the staff. But it’s an exciting one. We’ve got a lot of really good players and we have to create an environment where there is healthy competition and players can push each other.
“We have to understand that there will be frustration at times because only eleven can play, but that is how it is. We have a lot of important games and we have to improve our results. So it’s about playing, supporting the team, and being ready.”
Despite injuries still keeping a number of players out of the squad, Chelsea are unlikely to need academy players to join first-team training and make up the numbers following their mass recruitment, and for their training session on Thursday they were joined by two more bodies.
Both Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali were spotted walking around the pitches at London Cobham deep in conversation as training took place around them. At certain occasions the pair were caught watching on intently with a Thiago Silva pass particularly catching their attention.
source: football.london
