Can Chelsea really afford not to splash out?

Chelsea captain John Terry has recently called for Chelsea to make the most of the fact that their transfer embargo has been postponed until February by signing a number of players to boost the squad in January. This comes after manager Carlo Ancelotti had said that he has full faith in his squad and feels there is no need for any new players. Terry’s influence at Stamford Bridge is said to be high and it’s believed that he takes his problems straight to club owner Roman Abrahamovic so even if his manager didn’t want new players the owner could take matters into his own hands like he did with Andrei Shevchenko back in Jose Mourinho’s reign.

Terry’s reasoning for wanting new players makes a lot of sense: Chelsea are currently without a number of first team players through injury – Bosingwa, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba – and, although these injuries, with the exception of Bosingwa, aren’t expected to last that long, there is always the risk that worse injuries could hit the Chelsea squad later on this season which, with the next couple of transfer windows after January presumably blocked off, could be a massive blow to the club and their title contentions. A lot has also been made of the fact that Chelsea will lose Drogba, Michael Essien, Saloman Kalou and John Obi Mikel to the African Nations Cup for a few weeks in January; this is not as big an issue as it seems as Chelsea’s run of games during that period is against a bunch of weak teams who Chelsea should be expected to ease past even without key players like their African contingent.

A real problem for Chelsea though is the planning of the future. If they aren’t going to be able to sign players in Summer 2010 and possibly onwards then they will have to maintain their current squad which is an ageing squad. Most first team players will be over 30 by the time the transfer embargo ends and there are fears that the squad could end up like Ancelotti’s former team as it is well known that the Italian manager relied on a team full of old players at AC Milan – a plan which worked for him at first but has gradually become less effective.

Chelsea have one of the best squad depths in English football and that added to the fact that prices would be even higher than usual for a club who’ll not be able to sign players for a long time later makes Ancelotti more confident that his current crop can survive without signings. Terry’s disagreement though shatters Ancelotti’s plans of serenity and suggests that the players are not as happy at the thought of no reinforcements as their manager is. Terry fears more for the loss of players to injury and international duty and it’s a view which the fans share with the idea of new top signings a highly appealing thought to them given the lack of transfer activity that will soon follow for the club.

The players linked with Chelsea are top quality which makes their signings even more of an exciting prospect to those involved with the club. Terry previously picked out David Villa and Franck Ribery as potential transfer targets and of all the club interested in the pair, Chelsea are one side that could afford to pay the extremely high transfer prices. Then there’s their supposed interest in Sergio Aguero – a cracking young player who could become a Chelsea legend for the next decade. Also being linked are younger players like Adam Johnson of Middlesbrough and Jack Rodwell of Everton, this would help Chelsea prepare for the future and also make them safer if the FA decide to bring in a rule about having a certain amount of homegrown players in Premiership squads. As far as Premiership teams go, Chelsea have a number of English players but it wouldn’t hurt to have some of the top English talents amongst their ranks.

Ancelotti may not feel like signing anyone is a necessity given how strong his squad is but it would make sense for him to bring in at least a couple of new players as there are so many positives to it – squad strength has become increasingly important in the Premiership and mixing a bit of youth and new abilities into the Chelsea squad could do wonders for the team. In particular, the signing of someone like Ribery or Aguero would bring a whole new dimension to the team which could help them in those trickier games. If Ancelotti does choose to ignore the advice of his captain then he risks causing unrest amongst supporters and within the squad as, though he is respected by all involved with the club, the chance to sign players in January after all has become an issue of real interest for the club. Ancelotti may have his faith in old players but he has to look beyond this transfer window and at the next few years – planning for the future is a must.