From Porto’s brave new dawn to a lost identity at Stamford Bridge

On 29th May 2021, Chelsea Football Club secured arguably the greatest achievement in their history. The London club lifted the European Cup for the second time in their history following  a 1-0 win over Manchester City in Porto and the future looked positively thrilling. 

Unlike their debut triumph in 2012, this victory was reached by a team that had been the better side in each round of the competition. They topped their group unbeaten, conceded just four goals in the entire campaign (a Champions League record) and eliminated La Liga champions elect (Atletico Madrid), reigning La Liga champions (Real Madrid) and the reigning and future Premier League champions (Manchester City) along the way. The final itself was a tactical masterclass envisioned by manager Thomas Tuchel and executed immaculately by a team boasting a seemingly perfect balance of youth and experience. Rather than being the end of the journey, events at the Estadio do Dragao appeared to herald the beginning of another glorious era at Stamford Bridge.

Fast forward just over two years and the club and team could not look more different. Of the 23 players named in the matchday squad that auspicious evening, it is not inconceivable that just four of those will be playing in royal blue next season – Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Thiago Silva. Already departed are Antonio Rudiger, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Timo Werner, Willy Caballero, Marcos Alonso, Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma, Emerson Palmieri, Billy Gilmour and Olivier Giroud. Meanwhile, Edouard Mendy, Cesar Azpilicueta, Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Mateo Kovacic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hakim Ziyech are all likely to be following them through the exit door this summer.

Admittedly, all squads require renewal and some of those names have largely underwhelmed at the club while others have simply run their course whether due to age, injury or a desire for a fresh challenge. There is always a need for change and refinement of playing staff. Deadwood needs to be cut to release transfer capital and wages for new arrivals and when new owners take charge they will naturally have their own vision and practices to deploy. Errors in contract management by the previous regime also meant that the new custodians were powerless to prevent Rudiger and Christensen from leaving in the summer of 2021. Though given that Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital assumed control when the club had just been crowned world champions, it can be assumed that they were investing – however opportunistically given the government sanctions imposed on the club following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – in what was already in place at Chelsea as well as future potential. Strange, then, to see it all ripped to shreds so quickly.

The need to offload several members of the first team squad this summer has been obvious for months. Much of this, however, is a consequence of the erratic transfer policy of the last 12 months where hundreds of millions of pounds have been showered all over Europe, largely on unproven players, albeit ones with discernible potential. The excess of players has necessitated a cull, unfortunately some of those are players with their best years ahead of them with homegrown players being deemed surplus to requirements thanks to their book value serving to offset the recent exorbitant shopping spree.

That Mason Mount is even on the market is an appalling prospect. That he might end up at Manchester United is even worse. Maybe the Christian Nkunkus and Noni Madukes of this world will fill the breach over time but getting rid of a double Chelsea player of the year, a European Cup winner and an all-round supremely intelligent and gifted footballer that at 24 is still to reach his prime while pinning all your hopes on ifs and maybes seems stark raving mad.

That Mount’s days at Stamford Bridge are numbered is not purely a book balancing issue but a result of the new financial structures being implemented within the club. Securing players on longer term contracts to protect their market value and engender loyalty while offering much lower base-level wages with the rest related to performance is certainly an innovative and admirable idea of running a financially stable football club. 

What is worrying is that none of the other rival clubs with equally grand ambitions are doing anything remotely similar. All the other big-hitters in the Premier League and around Europe have their own pay structures with some able to offer more than others to potential employees but despite their differences they are all largely competitive when it comes to wages

Paying less than others can still work if there are other enticements to offer such as Champions League football, the prospect of joining a distinctive football culture of success, of working with a big-name manager, playing alongside genuinely great players. Unfortunately, Chelsea only comply with arguably one, possibly two of those with Mauricio Pochettino being a potential draw for some and the chance of sharing a dressing room with Silva attracting others . Meanwhile, the club cannot even offer UEFA Conference League football and none of its recent success can be attributed to the current ownership, coaching staff or (after this summer) almost any of their players. New arrivals will be entering the unknown into a callow dressing room with no guarantee of challenging for silverware.

Similar to the arrival of Roman Abramovich in West London in 2003, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s venture into English football appear set to revolutionise the club. This new way of operating by the new regime may well play dividends in the years to come and revolutions are rarely painless, just look back to the unceremonious dismissals of Claudio Ranieri and Carlo Ancelotti for evidence of cutthroat decisions made in the name of progress. Ultimately, Abramovich’s decisions were vindicated even if the Ancelotti one still sticks in the craw for a large number of Chelsea supporters. 

Whether Boehly and co will be vindicated remains to be seen. But it must be remembered that when revolutions fail, heads will always roll. And the problem with billionaire owners is that it is never going to be their neck that is set for the chop. Instead others will always bear that responsibility as we have already seen with the axing of first Thomas Tuchel and then Graham Potter before Frank Lampard was offered up as a human sacrifice for the final tortuous few months of the 2022/23 season.

None of the actions taken over the last year or so have imbued any confidence that a return to the sharp end of the table is imminent. Just seeing how Arsenal (Arsenal!) are operating in the transfer market in comparison to Chelsea is enough to worry even the most optimistic of supporters. It will be claimed that the club are merely in a state of transition though in fairness that transition has been ongoing for four years already. At some point you do actually need to arrive at your destination.