Chelsea fans have been saying for the best part of five years that a big summer overhaul is imminent and to date nothing so profound has occured, this summer does appear to be that year for two main reasons. The first is that Bruce Buck said so in the match programme on the last day of the season and secondly through necessity - Anelka left at Christmas, Kalou is no doubt leaving and it is becoming increasingly likely that Drogba will go as well. That leaves us with Torres remaining enigmatic, Sturridge and Lukaku thus giving the constant, day-to-day speculation shifting between A-list strikers a degree of credibility that Chelsea gets linked with.
I am going to make two assumptions here, that Di Matteo's position becomes permanent and that the current 4-2-3-1 formation remains in place.
Given the striker situation it must be our top priority bring in a fully established striker and perhaps a further one, having said that the prospects of two such strikers are virtually nil due to cost considerations and management of egos when only one striker can fit into such a system. A long list of players appear to be available with little to chose between - Hulk, Higuain perhaps, Falcao and Cavani heading them - the latter two having not qualified for the Champions League at Atletico Madrid and Napoli - Cavani would be my personal preference though it is a case of splitting hairs if you landing one from that list. In recent days Stevan Jovetic has had the honour of press speculation linking him to Chelsea, he would fall into the latter category of somebody who in theory would not be coming ready made but would develop into such a striker given time, I have no trouble seeing him arriving at Cobham.
A strong second on my list would be a central midfielder which brings me to the Modric saga of last year. Despite his indifferent season I am much more eager we go after him now than I was last year, our midfield was nowhere near as weak in 2010/11 as it is now and it wasn't ripe for someone of his style to drop in. In a central midfield triangle with Mata at the tip and Ramires one of the deeper players Modric would be the perfect player to complete it and complement the other two - the deep lying possession maintainer and playmaker, the opposition stifling and link-up player, and the advanced playmaker and supporter to the striker. As a unit Mata, Ramires and Modric would be as good as it gets in England.
A longstanding issue is the standard of our wingers, it is no coincidence that the three years we won the title since 2005 were when we were capable in that regard. Considering Kalou is on the way out and Malouda may as well be such is his form that leaves us with recent recruits Marko Marin and Kevin De Bruyne who should be sufficient for the time being though a right winger is required and as I see it is the third main requirement for our summer transfer business. It is reported that in January we bidded in the vicinity of £20 million for Willian from Shaktar Donetsk who I know little about though it shows Chelsea is actively looking at that position.
Despite not being fantastically settled I don't see much in the way of defensive acquisitions, I think we can safely say that in Ryan Betrand we have brought through a youth team player (shock horror) who hasn't put a foot wrong against some very good sides this year who I can see being transitioned to take over from Ashley Cole over the next 18-24 months. The freakshow that is right back does need to be comprehsively sorted, sometimes right back Jose Bosingwa will no doubt be going this summer, somehow Paulo Ferreira outlasts another full back which is his biggest talent. Considering it only takes somebody to play to their job description to improve on what we currently have there I am now too concerned who we bring in as long as he knows what he is doing.
The centre of defence I have no pressing concerns about, Luiz has improved quite significantly over the season and Cahill is a much better defender than Alex from what I can see so far of him (maybe it isn't wise to say this two days before the Champions League Final) whilst Ivanovic remains very solid and Terry would require a prison van to take him away.
For those of you who cannot handle a wall of text here is a summary:
1. Top requirement is an established striker.
2. Second requirement is a central midfielder, preferably somebody who specialises in maintaining possession.
3. Third requirement a right winger.
4. Fourth requirement a right back.
I am going to make two assumptions here, that Di Matteo's position becomes permanent and that the current 4-2-3-1 formation remains in place.
Given the striker situation it must be our top priority bring in a fully established striker and perhaps a further one, having said that the prospects of two such strikers are virtually nil due to cost considerations and management of egos when only one striker can fit into such a system. A long list of players appear to be available with little to chose between - Hulk, Higuain perhaps, Falcao and Cavani heading them - the latter two having not qualified for the Champions League at Atletico Madrid and Napoli - Cavani would be my personal preference though it is a case of splitting hairs if you landing one from that list. In recent days Stevan Jovetic has had the honour of press speculation linking him to Chelsea, he would fall into the latter category of somebody who in theory would not be coming ready made but would develop into such a striker given time, I have no trouble seeing him arriving at Cobham.
A strong second on my list would be a central midfielder which brings me to the Modric saga of last year. Despite his indifferent season I am much more eager we go after him now than I was last year, our midfield was nowhere near as weak in 2010/11 as it is now and it wasn't ripe for someone of his style to drop in. In a central midfield triangle with Mata at the tip and Ramires one of the deeper players Modric would be the perfect player to complete it and complement the other two - the deep lying possession maintainer and playmaker, the opposition stifling and link-up player, and the advanced playmaker and supporter to the striker. As a unit Mata, Ramires and Modric would be as good as it gets in England.
A longstanding issue is the standard of our wingers, it is no coincidence that the three years we won the title since 2005 were when we were capable in that regard. Considering Kalou is on the way out and Malouda may as well be such is his form that leaves us with recent recruits Marko Marin and Kevin De Bruyne who should be sufficient for the time being though a right winger is required and as I see it is the third main requirement for our summer transfer business. It is reported that in January we bidded in the vicinity of £20 million for Willian from Shaktar Donetsk who I know little about though it shows Chelsea is actively looking at that position.
Despite not being fantastically settled I don't see much in the way of defensive acquisitions, I think we can safely say that in Ryan Betrand we have brought through a youth team player (shock horror) who hasn't put a foot wrong against some very good sides this year who I can see being transitioned to take over from Ashley Cole over the next 18-24 months. The freakshow that is right back does need to be comprehsively sorted, sometimes right back Jose Bosingwa will no doubt be going this summer, somehow Paulo Ferreira outlasts another full back which is his biggest talent. Considering it only takes somebody to play to their job description to improve on what we currently have there I am now too concerned who we bring in as long as he knows what he is doing.
The centre of defence I have no pressing concerns about, Luiz has improved quite significantly over the season and Cahill is a much better defender than Alex from what I can see so far of him (maybe it isn't wise to say this two days before the Champions League Final) whilst Ivanovic remains very solid and Terry would require a prison van to take him away.
For those of you who cannot handle a wall of text here is a summary:
1. Top requirement is an established striker.
2. Second requirement is a central midfielder, preferably somebody who specialises in maintaining possession.
3. Third requirement a right winger.
4. Fourth requirement a right back.
