At long last, Chelsea finally have a signing to strengthen their team. After a disappointing draw at home to Swansea and an abject defeat away to Manchester City, Chelsea had to watch City make a scintillating start to the season and United record two smooth wins. Now they’ve gazumped the Manchester clubs and have signed Pedro from Barcelona.

The whole summer has looked quiet for Mourinho. He lost Petr Cech and replaced him with Asmir Begovic; Drogba left and Falcao came in; Filipe Luis departed and Baba Rahman arrived. Chelsea’s signings seemed to simply replace the bit-part players who no longer wanted to sit on the bench at Chelsea.

After winning the title last season, Chelsea really needed to strengthen their side. The other teams around them have done so - Arsenal strengthened with Cech, United with £200m worth of new talent, Manchester City with Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Otamendi, even Liverpool have made quite a few signings as they look to crack back into the Champions League. That’s not to say that Chelsea aren’t a good team, they won the league last season and the same players will look to retain it this year. But without strengthening the squad, Chelsea would have been like the first rider out on the time trial. They set the best time, but the others would have had the chance to overtake.

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But the signing of Pedro changes things. Now they’ve strengthened too. No longer do City, United and Arsenal need to overtake the Chelsea of last season, they now have to overtake the Chelsea of last season plus Pedro and some fresh faces. Chelsea will be that much harder to topple because of that.

There are two things that a manager must do if he wants to retain the title. Two vitally important things at any rate. One is to get his title-winning players playing with the same verve and confidence that they played with when they won the league. The other is to freshen up the squad. You have to freshen because training gets boring with the same faces and the same methods used every day for two years. But you also need to freshen because the same players who gave their all to win a league title the previous season can’t be expected to put in the same mental and physical effort the next season. It’s such a tough feat the first time around, but even harder the second.

Mourinho managed the first part well enough. He got rid of a few players and replaced them with new faces. He freshened up the dressing room and gave the players he already had a reason to keep fighting - Diego Costa had to work hard to fend off Falcao, but he was also tasked with helping the off-form Colombian, Azpilicueta will have to fight for his place with Baba Rahman.

But the second part is vital too. You have to bring in players who will do more than just keep the starters on their toes. You have to bring in a new starter - at least one who will really threaten the guys already in the team. And Pedro will do that.

Mourinho seems to value the trust he has in his players, but it also seems that his trust is hard to gain. Last season, Mourinho played with a team that barely changed from week to week. Costa, Willian, Hazard and Oscar made up an attacking quartet that terrified the Premier League, but there was little depth underneath them. Mohamed Salah was never really given the chance to prove why Mourinho bought him in the first place. Neither was Juan Cuadrado, who failed miserably to grasp whatever chance he was handed. Over the past few seasons, Kevin de Bruyne and Juan Mata were left out in the cold and offloaded. Mourinho simply didn’t trust these players the way he trusts his front four.

Pedro is a little bit different, however. He’ll have to work hard to gain Mourinho’s trust but if he does he looks a threat to Willian’s place in the team in a way that Salah and Cuadrado never did. He also has a history of having to track back and press the opposition when not in possession. Leo Messi doesn’t usually do defence, so Pedro is used to working hard. That ensures that he shouldn’t go the way of De Bruyne and Mata and be sent to the exit door sharply.

He’s the signing that Chelsea needed this summer. It raises the benchmark that the others will have to reach, and it makes Chelsea harder to beat. It’s a shame for Mourinho that this didn’t come before the season started - Chelsea didn’t look too hard for City to beat last weekend. But it’s better to make that signing late in the transfer window than never to make it at all. Chelsea are still a force in this Premier League title race and they’re still a team to beat.

They won the league by eight points last season, so making up five points on City and United shouldn’t be too tough. Should it?

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