How Chelsea should have spent Todd Boehly's first €1bn on transfers
Sound the alarms, people - Todd Boehly and BlueCo's transfer expenditure while in charge of Chelsea has passed the €1bn mark.
When they were handed the keys to Stamford Bridge in May 2022, the Blues were 12 months removed from winning the UEFA Champions League. You know, the top prize in club football. The number one reason these big clubs compete and spend huge sums of money in the first place.
For whatever reason, Boehly and co. wanted to push forward with a plan to build a young team to dominate the next decade of football without realising that's not quite how this sport works.
Of the 23 players that were part of Chelsea's matchday squad for their 2021 European triumph against Manchester City, just four remain - Thiago Silva, Reece James, Ben Chilwell and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Chelsea finished 12th in the Premier League last season before Boehly stumbled into one of his only bright decisions thus far - appointing Mauricio Pochettino as head coach.
But if Boehly could go back and spend his €1bn (or little over £850m) again, how would he construct his perfect new Chelsea XI?
Chelsea fans on social media love to undertake this task, so we at 90min thought we'd give it a shot as well with the power of glorious hindsight.
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Rules
First of all, we have decided not to include players that should definitely have not been sold by Chelsea.
Mason Mount should still be at the club. Lewis Hall should be deemed untouchable right now. But that's life, I guess - you never know what side of the bed a billionaire will roll out of.
For similar reasons, the four survivors from the 2021 Champions League final will not be included here. This is based on building a new XI in the new regime's image. However, that means players signed in the Boehly era are eligible.
Perhaps most crucially, we are only going to be picking players who have actually moved since May 2022 as we know their exact transfer value and that they were on the market. Only realistic suggestions will come into play though - Harry Kane was obviously not ending this summer as a Blue, for example.
Let's dive in.
Chelsea's alternate XI
GK: David Raya
- Would have signed from: Brentford
- He actually joined: Arsenal
- Transfer fee: £3m loan plus £27m option (€3.5m plus €31.6m)
Chelsea chose to spend £20m on Robert Sanchez this summer, by which point he was effectively Brighton's third-choice goalkeeper.
If they had been willing to spend £10m more, they could have landed David Raya from Brentford and assured him of a starting spot.
RB: Jurrien Timber
- Would have signed from: Ajax
- He actually joined: Arsenal
- Transfer fee: £34m (€40m)
Why Arsenal were completely unopposed in their pursuit of Jurrien Timber is anyone's guess.
Manchester United were interested in the Dutchman last summer but chose not to launch another bid. Chelsea probably would have made an offer had they not agreed to sign Malo Gusto back in January, but we're trying to use those real transfer picks sparingly.
CB: Milan Skriniar
- Would have signed from: Inter
- He actually joined: PSG
- Transfer fee: Free
So Europe's top clubs saw Milan Skriniar's contract expiring and just let him join PSG, huh.
The ruthless Chelsea of old, one that prioritised win-now signings, would have been all over this.
CB: Josko Gvardiol
- Would have signed from: RB Leipzig
- He actually joined: Manchester City
- Transfer fee: £77.6m (€90m)
Chelsea actually got pretty far into negotiations with RB Leipzig regarding a deal for Josko Gvardiol last summer, but they began late in the window and an agreement was not reached.
The Blues remained interested but their drop-off in form over a cliff saw Manchester City take the lead in the race for his signature.
LB: Pervis Estupinan
- Would have signed from: Villarreal
- He actually joined: Brighton
- Transfer fee: £15m (€17.6m)
Chelsea signed Marc Cucurella from Brighton for an initial £55m and the Seagulls found an even better player for a fraction of the price.
Perhaps the Blues should have hired 247 members of Albion's backroom staff and hierarchy sooner.
CM: Enzo Fernandez
- Would have signed from: Benfica
- He actually joined: Chelsea
- Transfer fee: £106.8m (€125m)
Was £106.8m on Enzo Fernandez an overpay back in January? Yes.
But the lad is quality and it was always going to take a nine-figure sum to pry him away from Benfica, particularly with several other clubs gearing up for moves in the summer.
With Kevin De Bruyne out for the rest of 2023, the Argentine World Cup winner has a real shot of becoming the best midfielder in the Premier League.
CM: Moises Caicedo
- Would have signed from: Brighton
- He actually joined: Chelsea
- Transfer fee: £100m (€117.2m)
Alright, this is starting to defeat the point of the exercise a little, but there's a slight twist to this Caicedo pick.
If Chelsea had just coughed up the £100m Brighton wanted in the first place, they wouldn't have had to enter a bidding war with Liverpool and would have saved themselves £15m.
Fernandez and Caicedo could become one of the world's most formidable midfield duos. As Logan Roy once said: "Congratulations on saying the biggest number...you f***ing morons."
RM: Moussa Diaby
- Would have signed from: Bayer Leverkusen
- He actually joined: Aston Villa
- Transfer fee: £51m (€60m)
Chelsea have made some interesting signings (in a genuine way, not being sarcastic this time) in wide areas, so it's a bit of a surprise that they were never seriously linked with Moussa Diaby.
Arsenal and Newcastle had both eyed him prior to this summer, eventually ending up at Aston Villa.
A pacy wide player who can get in behind and score goals is exactly the kind of forward that Pochettino loves to but seldom works with.
AM: Christopher Nkunku
- Would have signed from: RB Leipzig
- He actually joined: Chelsea
- Transfer fee: £52m (€61m)
You win this round, Mr Boehly.
LM: Dominik Szoboszlai
- Would have signed from: RB Leipzig
- He actually joined: Liverpool
- Transfer fee: £60m (€70m)
Young, fairly expensive and readily on the market.
In hindsight, it's a minor miracle that Liverpool's only competition to sign Dominik Szoboszlai came from Newcastle, and even they quickly withdrew their interest.
CF: Alexander Isak
- Would have signed from: Real Sociedad
- He actually joined: Newcastle
- Transfer fee: £58m (€68m)
When Newcastle signed Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad, there were question marks over his goal record. If Chelsea had made such a move, they probably would have been roundly criticised for taking such a punt on potential.
But hey, Chelsea have scarcely had prolific number nines throughout their History. They could stomach a move for one more. The talented but raw Nicolas Jackson has started this season up front, for goodness sake.
Financial results
- Total spend: £583.8m (€683.8m)
- Chelsea's actual total spend: £859.3m (€1.07bn)
- Total savings: £275.5m (€323m)
In the words of Homer Simpson, it's not just easy to criticise, but "fun, too".
LISTEN NOW TO 90MIN'S TALKING TRANSFERS PODCAST
On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth, Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss Liverpool's response to losing out on Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, Harry Maguire's Man Utd future and more!
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