Liverpool top of the class but Man Utd and Barcelona must do better: Transfer window grades for Europe’s 10 biggest teams
It’s been another insane summer at Stamford Bridge, where the revolving-door recruitment policy remains in full swing. To illustrate the point, Chelsea spent more than £300m on new players but raised pretty much the same amount from sales.
Of the most notable new arrivals, Joao Pedro is already looking like a fantastic purchase, after hitting the ground running at the Club World Cup, and fellow Brazilian Estevao Willian has just as quickly become a fan favourite in west London.
The versatile Jorrel Hato should also prove a very useful option in defence, but it’s really hard to understand why Chelsea are so preoccupied with signing so many wide players of a similar standard, with both Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho having become Blues this summer.
On the plus side, though, Chelsea managed to get rid of almost every single member of their ‘Bomb Squad’ bar Raheem Sterling, who remains a colossal strain on the club’s wage bill.
The way in which Chelsea treat players as commodities may rub a lot of people up the wrong way, but credit where it’s due, they’re the best sellers in the business, as they once again underlined by making more than £20m apiece the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka, Armando Broja, Renato Veiga, as well as convincing Arsenal to hand over nearly £50m for Noni Madueke.
The Blues may have a crazy approach to the transfer market, but it’s working for the reigning world champions.
