This article completely misses the point of what Chelsea was trying to do though, and the fact that we do t know yet whether it will work.
Our “horrible busts” have mostly been defined by injuries, not necessarily abysmal play. Now, should they buy players who already have hamstring issues like Lavia considering our recent history? Probably not.
We still need a reliable front man, and the team needs to grow into itself. But all those “youth talents” we’ve been flooding the club with are exempt from FFP. When we are able to turn around and sell the ones that don’t make it for pure profit 2 or 3 years from now, people will once again ask “how did they do that??”
FFP going to 70% is going to be crushing for most teams, even the wealthiest ones if they are stuck with aging rosters that need to turn over more than 3 or 4 spots.
Chelsea have redefined the salary structure of the club and are building a multi club model that can bypass having to pay the Brighton’s of the world 80m for the targets they developed.
Have they had missteps and some bad luck? Yes. But that doesn’t mean the basic idea was horrible. They would have had more veteran presences of Silva, Chilwell, Sterling, Gallagher, Nkunku and James mixed in with top younger players like Fofana with PL seasons already under their belt, and then elite young, young talent coming behind them. That’s what they purchased. They haven’t received the benefit of it and players like Silva have had to play every match due to injuries.
They also had to move on nearly 30 players. With the exception of a few blundering hiccups they’ve done a very good job there as well.
Chelsea fans should t be happy with where we are, but that should involve heavy looks at things like our training and medical staff more than their financial strategy.
