Whatever your opinion of Chilwell, the best part of this deal is the obvious backing Frank is getting from the club over transfers. As already stated, there are better value deals out there but Frank wanted BC. So the deal makes me happy.
Ben Chilwell to Chelsea
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Is he? I dont see him best in either headers per game or success rate.
| Total | Won | Success % | |
| Dan Burn | 6 | 4.2 | 70.00% |
| Digne | 5 | 3.4 | 68.00% |
| Masina | 5 | 3.4 | 68.00% |
| Davies | 4.1 | 2.7 | 65.85% |
| Chilwell | 3.7 | 2.2 | 59.46% |
| Charlie Taylor | 3.6 | 2.1 | 58.33% |
| Bertrand | 3.8 | 1.9 | 50.00% |
| Shaw | 3 | 1.7 | 56.67% |
Fbref has him winning 73.8% of his aerial duels. Burn at 72.5%, Digne at 67.9%, Masina at 69.5%, Davies at 65.6%.
It's a really good price - Frank's building quite the team. If they manage to pull Havertz and Thiago Silva off as well then I'd put them in the race for top two/ three.
They've clearly got the Chilwell deal sorted. And Havertz will probably join sometime next week. Thiago Silva is very likely as well - should be good for at least a year.
If they can get a GK now, they could challenge for the second place in the League.
The new players will need time to gel and will take time to hit the ground running, but once they do, they'll be a really good team to watch next season.
Roman has backed Lampard very well in the transfers. The pressure is on Lampard now - he has to deliver or will get the boot. I don't know what the expectations are, but I'd disappointed if I were Roman and if Chelsea don't finish a very close third in the League and with one Cup.
If they can get a GK now, they could challenge for the second place in the League.
The new players will need time to gel and will take time to hit the ground running, but once they do, they'll be a really good team to watch next season.
Roman has backed Lampard very well in the transfers. The pressure is on Lampard now - he has to deliver or will get the boot. I don't know what the expectations are, but I'd disappointed if I were Roman and if Chelsea don't finish a very close third in the League and with one Cup.
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If you look at the official PL page which has stats on players it has him on 56 aerial battles won and 38 lost. That gives him a percentage of 59.6% won.
Digne has 114 won and 53 lost which is 68.3% won.
Using the 19/20 season. Digne has also made more tackles and has a better tackle success rate despite that. More assists, more big chances created, better cross percentage etc. Loads of better 'stats' and tbh I'd trust the official premier league site over others.
Fbref uses StatsBomb, which is significantly more sophisticated & reliable than the official PL site.
That said, I agree overall that Digne is the better player by a not-insignificant margin. Still would plump for Chilwell in the air.
I know I shouldn’t, but it’s hard not to get impatient re signings when Chelsea have already signed Werner, ziyech and looking very close to Chilwell and Havertz
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To be fair fbref is as reliable as you can get without paying for software.
There aren't many good left backs out there. Chilwell is adequate.
Good deal for them, i rate him. Not the best defensively, but they seem to want to have attacking fullbacks, and he fits the bill.
Arguably you don't sell your best players especially when you don't need the money. I guess we have seen that Leicester realised that 150m for a CB and now a LB is good money especially they'll remain as competitive without them. There are some players that remain there that they have no intention to sell irrespective of any offer....
They are strengthening the squad. It remains to be seen if he will be able to build a team out of these players.
This is another reason that I don't think stats is a good argument most of the time (Although we all use them and I did above) as two 'official sites have a 10% difference in something based on how they perceive a stat to be measured. It's too difficult to just judge a player based purely on them and we get too encompassed by them. One reason I hate the modern game from a fan perspective - obviously they have value for clubs.
Sure I think that's a fair perspective. I'm probably towards the other end of the spectrum in terms of liking stats, but I can understand your point of view.
I suppose I was being perhaps a bit hyperbolic in stating that Chilwell is the best LB aerially unequivocally - by the metric I'd trust that would seem to be the case, but as you rightly point out that's probably insufficient to deem him the clear best.
Regardless, I'd argue that it is definitely a strength of his and is almost certainly a major reason why Lampard & Ashley Cole have been pushing for him so hard over others like Tagliafico, Telles, & Reguilon.
Frank will definitely be under pressure but I don't think his job will be in danger whatsoever unless we have a season like Mourinho did in his last year here. Even then I think Frank has enough credit in the bank to avoid the sack any time soon.
For me if we pull off all these signings the expectations have to be a comfortable top 4 finish (as in not fighting on the final day for it like last season) and a pretty deep run in the CL. Can't see us winning the title. Not when Liverpool and City are years and years into their projects and are the finished article. We'll have basically a whole new team. This season will surely be too soon to win it unless every new player plays out of their skin straight away.
I saw Digne's numbers and saw his numbers better in almost every category.
| Chilwell | Digne | |
| Goals | 3 | 0 |
| Assists | 3 | 7 |
| xA | 3.54 | 6.39 |
| xA/90 | 0.13 | 0.19 |
| xA Open play | 2.7 | 4.08 |
| xA Open play/90 | 0.1 | 0.12 |
| Passing % | 78.3 | 74.2 |
| Chances created | 1.3 | 2.1 |
| Dribbles | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Dribble success % | 36% | 70% |
| Dispossessed + Uns touces | 2.7 | 1.5 |
| Long passes | 2 | 1.8 |
| Long passes completion % | 33% | 43% |
| Crosses | 0.7 | 2.1 |
| Cross completion % | 18% | 26% |
| Tackles | 1.8 | 2.1 |
| Interceptions | 1 | 1.2 |
| Fouls | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| Clearances | 2 | 2.7 |
| Tackle lost | 1.1 | 1 |
| Blocks | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Headers | 2.1 | 3.3 |
Also Chilwell's attacking stats are more comparable with AWB than Chilwell.
| Chilwell | AWB | |
| Goals | 3 | 0 |
| Assists | 3 | 4 |
| xA | 3.54 | 3.49 |
| xA/90 | 0.13 | 0.1 |
| xA Open play | 2.7 | 3.76 |
| xA Open play/90 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Passing % | 78.3 | 81.3 |
| Chances created | 1.3 | 0.7 |
| Dribbles | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| Dribble success % | 36% | 65% |
| Dispossessed + Uns touces | 2.7 | 2.3 |
| Long passes | 2 | 1 |
| Long passes completion % | 33% | 34% |
| Crosses | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Cross completion % | 18% | 13% |
| Tackles | 1.8 | 3.7 |
| Interceptions | 1 | 1.9 |
| Fouls | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| Clearances | 2 | 1.7 |
| Tackle lost | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| Blocks | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Headers | 2.1 | 0.7 |
Took the stats from understat and whoscored. fbref has too many stats, so it's hard to compile stats for everything.
Also their overall pentagon from sofascore is very interesting.
AWB
Chilwell
Digne
Chilwell
Digne
I saw Digne's numbers and saw his numbers better in almost every category.
Chilwell Digne Goals Assists xA xA/90 xA Open play xA Open play/90 Passing % Chances created Dribbles Dribble success % Dispossessed + Uns touces Long passes Long passes completion % Crosses Cross completion % Tackles Interceptions Fouls Clearances Tackle lost Blocks Headers
Also Chilwell's attacking stats are more comparable with AWB than Chilwell.
Chilwell AWB Goals Assists xA xA/90 xA Open play xA Open play/90 Passing % Chances created Dribbles Dribble success % Dispossessed + Uns touces Long passes Long passes completion % Crosses Cross completion % Tackles Interceptions Fouls Clearances Tackle lost Blocks Headers
Took the stats from understat and whoscored. fbref has too many stats, so it's hard to compile stats for everything.
Also their overall pentagon from sofascore is very interesting.
AWB
Chilwell
Digne
Good post and I agree. I'm under no illusions that Chilwell is as good as Digne or AWB.
That said, he still has room to grow and I'm intrigued to see him in a better team where he has more license to attack - it should be noted that he played more conservatively for Leicester for much of the year given they had Pereira flying up and down the opposite flank & Leicester rarely committed both fullbacks all the way up the pitch. The fact that Ashley Cole has specifically recommended him is especially encouraging from my perspective, and as others have pointed out the talent pool for top class left backs is a bit wanting. He was completely unpalatable for me at 80m; at 45-50 I think it's a good signing.
Yeah, I think he will be good solid player for Chelsea.
I'd absolutely take a solid if unspectacular player in that position given the dross we have there now. Perhaps this is a bit far-fetched, but I'd be thrilled if Chilwell was able to emulate someone like Paulo Ferreira (with James on the other flank being more akin to Ashley Cole).
They really are doing the business we dream of. Ziyech, Werner, Pulisic, Chilwell, Havertz.
Yeah it’s not like we’ve signed a shit ton of high profile players (with nothing to show for it too) or spent large sums or even signed Bruno just a few months ago right?
Chelsea have signed all those players since their ban. Getting them all done quickly. They haven't even played with most of them so the nothing to show for it is irrelevant.
We've paid big bucks for Maguire, AWB and Bruno in the process. Who before that?
130mil for Maguire and AWB - Not really what dreams are made of.
They havent got Havertz or Chilwell yet but seems as though the latter is close.
Remember we have signed Maguire, AWB, Bruno n James when they only got Kovacic.
Chelski were always going to outspend us this summer. It was never in doubt to me. And our cry baby fans are having a wobbler about it.
Wed have probably not got 3rd last season had they been able to buy players let's be honest.
The point is the speed they've managed to complete so many signing of very talented players is impressive.
We arguably overpaid for two defenders and thankfully got the CAM we needed albeit 5 months too late.
We need to do something good in the window to have done business comparable to them in the period since we got James. Kovacic, Pulisic, Chilwell, Havertz, Werner, Ziyech > Maguire, AWB, Bruno, James.
I don't think people are having a wobbler about them outspending us this window. It is that our closest rival this season is drastically improving, whereas we seemingly aren't getting much of anything done. We can't hope to bridge the gap to first and second if the team that came fourth is likely to do much better than us.
We have time to do these deals - but it's much easier to be excited as a Chelsea fan going into the season than a United fan, as things stand.
Edit - I appreciate Havertz and Chilwell aren't yet done but they seem to be progressing. The points still remain.
People are talking trash about City's multi billion spending to success.
Chelsea is the same, they seems to have unlimited cash at the moment.
Chelsea is the same, they seems to have unlimited cash at the moment.
Chilwell (50m) + Werner (48m) + Ziyech (35m) + (potentially) Silva (free) + (potentially) Havertz (80m) + Willian off wage-bills + Pedro off wage-billls = 213m
This is an amazing transfer-window - fixing important squad deficiencies and getting rid of some deadwood - without overspending.
If they can get some cash from surplus players like Emerson/Alonso/Jorginho and get one world-class goalkeeper (and one or two kids) with the recouped money, this could be the best Chelsea transfer window after 2005.
This is an amazing transfer-window - fixing important squad deficiencies and getting rid of some deadwood - without overspending.
If they can get some cash from surplus players like Emerson/Alonso/Jorginho and get one world-class goalkeeper (and one or two kids) with the recouped money, this could be the best Chelsea transfer window after 2005.
213m isnt overspending?!
Its two years worth of spending. Also notions of overspending should be contextualised by net spending.
Not when you consider we were sitting on ~190m from Morata / Hazard
Remember, for them, this is a two transfer-window worth of spending condensed into one.
Overspending depends on the quality of the players bought, their average age, their resale value, and whether they are surplus to the team's requirements.
Of the five (potentially) incoming players, there's not one player on whom Chelsea have overspent, and possibly every single player will be an immediate first-choice.
As I said earlier, they can still recoup a lot of the spent money by selling fringe players like Alonso, Emerson, and more so, Jorginho.
Everything considered 213m isn't a lot.
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If young players like Havertz and Sancho live up to the expectations, they will be worth much more than their current valuations. And even if they don't perform as expected, clubs can still sell them for a large sum taking no substantial hit.
Buying these young superstars is a smart investment, not overspending.
Buying these young superstars is a smart investment, not overspending.
For £50M that's a good signing. Anymore would be overpaying.
If 50m, that is a fair price for him, considering the pandemic. Would have thought that Leicester are gonna ask for 60m+ though.
Indeed we often see clubs winning the transfer window, and is getting envious. Let’s see how it turns out.
I’m sure a few years back someone like West Ham were being applauded for a great window, and it turned out pretty badly.
Remember how spurs spent the Bale money.
Chilwell is over rated imo. 50m is good money for Leicester
It will be interesting to see how Frank Lampard does next season.
Last season he did incredible considering Chelsea lost their best player and had a transfer ban.
With that said, it also meant there was less pressure. Once you buy Werner, Havertz, Ziyech, Chilwell and God knows who else, the pressure will be on.
Last season he did incredible considering Chelsea lost their best player and had a transfer ban.
With that said, it also meant there was less pressure. Once you buy Werner, Havertz, Ziyech, Chilwell and God knows who else, the pressure will be on.
meh, I'll get worried once they fix their defence. They are signing decent players this summer, no doubt about it ... but they conceded 54 goals last season (which has got to be some kind of record for a team finishing in the top 4), so not sure spending over 200m without upgrading their centre backs or goalkeeper is a great strategy. And Thiago Silva turns 36 next month, so not sure how much he could give them (if they end up signing him).
They’re going to be light years ahead of us next season, given our utter incompetence in the transfer market
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