The January transfer window is well underway, but there’s still plenty of time for top Premier League clubs to reinforce in the push for a trophy — or multiple. For teams looking to escape relegation, it’s an opportunity to bring in reinforcements to finish the job.
In this edition of Keep, Dump or Extend, Mark Ogden and Gab Marcotti examine the questions facing Chelsea on all fronts, from transfers to their new coach in charge.
Chelsea: Keep, Dump or Extend?
• League position, as of Jan. 23: 6th, 34 points. (Last year’s finish: 4th, 69 points)
• Realistic goal: A quarterfinals run in the Champions League and qualifying for next season
1. Enzo Maresca has been replaced by Liam Rosenior. What lessons have Chelsea learned, and how can they make his job easier?
Marcotti: Rosenior was at Strasbourg, which is part of the BlueCo multiclub ownership, just like Chelsea, so he’s familiar with how the club works and the business model. Which, let’s face it, is as much about developing players and getting long-term value through player trading as it is about winning here and now. That’s a bonus, though I think Maresca was also quite familiar with how the club worked when he took over.
Assuming we don’t ditch the model, for Rosenior to work out better than Maresca, clarity and messaging are critical. Strasbourg were all about developing players, which is why the fans are furious. Chelsea can’t be that — partly because there is much more at stake financially, partly because there are many more Chelsea fans, and partly because those Chelsea fans are accustomed to winning, like they did in the Roman Abramovich Era.
It would be great if a senior figure at Chelsea — maybe one of the five (yes, five) sporting directors — took on a more public-facing role, rather than leaving it all to Rosenior who, lest we forget, is just 41. Equally important, he needs to have clear boundaries about just how much latitude he has in terms of apportioning playing time and rotating players.
Ogden: Liam Rosenior has a big job on his hands, but he has the players to achieve Chelsea’s minimum objectives this season. The only question is whether those players, especially the more experienced ones such as Reece James, Enzo Fernández and Cole Palmer, are prepared to buy into the ideas of a coach whose last job in English ended — harshly — with the sack at Hull City.
Chelsea have a squad capable of reaching the top four, even though it has flaws, so a competent coach should be able to take the team to where the owners want it to be in the short term.
2. Can they compete with João Pedro, Marc Guiu and Liam Delap as their center-forward options?
Marcotti: I’d lean toward “probably not.” When João Pedro plays center forward, he is just a totally different profile than the other two, and I’m not sure that’s his best position — not to mention his injury record isn’t great.
Delap has as many red cards as goals (1) in all competitions and Guiu is still a teenager. I think you need to get Maresca another option. If you don’t want to spend money, it makes sense to bring in Emanuel Emegha from Strasbourg six months early.
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Liam Rosenior: Enzo Fernández transfer speculation means nothing to me
Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has played down any transfer speculation regarding Enzo Fernández.
Ogden: I don’t think so. I like João Pedro — he is an upgrade on what Chelsea have had — but he’s not in the Didier Drogba/Diego Costa category, so Chelsea still lack a 20-goal striker.
Delap has had a nightmare start due to injury, but he’s unlikely ever to be more than a No. 2 striker. As for Guiu, he is talented and full of potential, but way too young to be tasked with scoring the goals to help win a title.
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3. Should the Blues have faith in Robert Sánchez at goalkeeper?
Marcotti: You can wait until the end of the end of the season to make a call, of course. But Sánchez has been playing better this year and it’s fair to say he has beaten out Filip Jorgensen, so it’s really a question of whether you want to bring Mike Penders over or pursue a free agent such as Mike Maignan.
Maignan doesn’t fit Chelsea’s profile in that he turns 31 this summer, but he’s a free agent-to-be, one of the top five goalkeepers in the world and a natural leader. They were very close to picking him up last summer, and they’d have to strongly consider it. But you don’t want this to drag on much beyond March.
Ogden: He has improved this season and is maybe benefiting from the confidence that comes with knowing he is the No. 1. But when you look at recent title-winning keepers, and at David Raya at Arsenal, Sánchez is nowhere near the level of those who have helped teams win the Premier League.
4. Do they need help at center back?
Marcotti: With Levi Colwill out until next season, Trevoh Chalobah is probably Chelsea’s best center back, and he has played alongside a rotating cast of Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo and Benoît Badiashile.
I’d stick to this group and see where they are in the summer. A fit Fofana is very solid, and Adarabioyo seems open to being a squad player. You need a pathway for Colwill and you don’t want to be stuck with dead-wood defenders, but if you’re desperate, you could look at bringing back Mamadou Sarr, who has been a regular at Strasbourg.
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Ogden: I disagree with Gab on this. I think all of the above mentioned defenders are decent Premier League defenders, and Chalobah has certainly developed since returning from loan at Crystal Palace a year ago. But Chelsea don’t have a defensive rock — a Virgil van Dijk, Rúben Dias or Gabriel Magalhães — and that’s what they need to find.
5. Can Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi be moved on?
Marcotti: There’s no point keeping guys who don’t play, and these two don’t even have squad numbers. Sterling is on huge wages and reportedly wants to stay in London. Fine: Ring up Fulham, Crystal Palace, West Ham, whomever, and subsidize his wages. I’m sure he wants to play.
Disasi came on as a substitute in the last World Cup final. He wasn’t great on loan at Aston Villa last season, but he too knows he has to get on the pitch somewhere.
Ogden: Sterling and Chelsea are locked in what seems a no-win situation. As you say, Gab, he wants to stay in London for family reasons, but his options are limited unless he is prepared to take a big pay cut. Chelsea could help him on his way by paying up his contract, but neither scenario is likely. Disasi should be fairly easy to move in January because he doesn’t have the obstacles to overcome that Sterling has.
6. Is Andrey Santos ready to be a regular contributor in midfield?
Marcotti: He was signed to be the first option off the bench — given Romeo Lavia’s well-documented injury problems — but has struggled. He’s only 21, it’s a new league and all that, but Chelsea really need a reliable option to step in, since Reece James also doesn’t have a great injury record and might be needed at fullback. Give him more time, by all means, but this is where he needs to step up.
Ogden: I don’t think he’s ready yet, but his role right now works for him and Chelsea. He’s cover for Moisés Caicedo and Fernandez, who both pick up too many yellow cards, so he’ll get game time. He just won’t play in the big games unless one of those guys is injured or suspended.
