From Xabi Alonso’s appointment in June, until the final seconds of the transfer window
Chelsea’s summer transfer target was simple: finish the window stronger on the pitch, in the dressing room, and also financially. They believe they have achieved all three parts.
Club sources say the best of their squad-building is still to come. First, though, they will toast a summer they feel has been an overwhelming success, even after the Lamine Camara deal collapsed at the last.
Meetings between the hierarchy last season proved key. After years of a transfer policy which has signed exclusively young players, the need for experience and leadership was clear to see. So as key men Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro enjoyed a summer off, a rest they were crying out for, Chelsea’s chiefs began to enact their summer of change.
After some soul-searching, and an acknowledgement of errors in the past, the club appointed Xabi Alonso and set about giving their new manager a squad many feel won Chelsea the transfer window.
Alonso’s first day at work was July 9, but right from accepting the keys to Stamford Bridge in mid-May, Standard Sport understands he was in almost daily contact with the club’s board, discussing the shape the new-look squad should take.
In came headline £117million signing Morgan Rogers, from Aston Villa, and experienced pair Jordan Henderson, 36, and Danny Welbeck, 35, who Chelsea are trusting to set standards in the dressing room. Alonso initially wanted a reunion with Granit Xhaka, but a lowball offer to Sunderland did the club no favours, and the 33-year-old stayed put. The final weeks of the window consisted largely of clearing the decks and balancing the books.
Enzo Fernandez’s future provided the summer’s biggest transfer saga. It ran to the wire, but Manchester City eventually got their man after giving into Chelsea’s demands. The Blues pocketed a British transfer record-equalling £125million in a sale where calculated risk delivered laudable financial reward. Chelsea are proud of the fee they got.
Fernandez first wanted Real Madrid, but in humbling moment hours before he played in Argentina’s dramatic World Cup win over Cape Verde, the Spanish giants issued a statement distancing themselves from him.
Marc Cucurella was the first domino to fall; Chelsea’s summer was off and running.
City’s interest, though, was unyielding, led by Enzo Maresca, the former Chelsea head coach who had designs on working with his namesake again. Chelsea’s arbitrary deadline of 5pm on August 14 for bids was done to either provide clarity ahead of the season or bump the fee beyond the original £120m asking price. It worked.
While Real had to keep one Chelsea player at arm’s length, they were far keener on another. The first major chapter of Chelsea’s summer was the sale of Marc Cucurella for £51m. Chelsea would have liked to keep him but knew he preferred to leave.
The first domino had fallen; Chelsea’s summer was off and running. With Cucurella out the door, Chelsea wanted to strengthen on both flanks, and a breakthrough in talks with Atalanta to sign the versatile wing-back Marco Palestra followed early evening on a Tuesday in mid-June. Documents were exchanged and Palestra became the first new face of the Xabi Alonso era. The next would be the most surprising, and the most exciting.
Rogers was tipped by many to join Arsenal this summer. Mikel Arteta had made the England star his priority signing in attack, and talks between the pair had taken place. Chelsea, though, were quietly confident – and, crucially, decisive – in transfer talks.
Chelsea pounced as soon as Rogers and England had been knocked out of the World Cup by Argentina, before they had even kicked off in the third-place play-off against France. A club-record £117m deal was agreed, and personal terms were no issue. Rogers was reunited with Palmer, his close friend from their City academy days, and Arsenal were stunned. Already, two Premier League games in, the pair are forming a bond on the pitch to match the one off it.
