Every year without fail we hear about one team ‘winning the transfer window’, and this season that title may very well belong to Chelsea.
The Blues’ transfer ban is over, and with the Eden Hazard money waiting to be spent, the London club wasted no time in landing a number of high profile signings.
Frank Lampard managed to finish fourth with a makeshift squad made up of a number of youngsters with minimal Premier League experience, but with over £150m already spent, the question now becomes, can Chelsea push for the league title?
We’ve had a go at ranking Chelsea’s transfer incomings so far…
Timo Werner 5/5
It’s hard to score full marks on this ranking, but Timo Werner has to go down as one of the signings of the summer.
With the transfer market being as inflated as it is these days, £47.5m for a striker who netted 28 league goals in Germany last season is an absolute snip.
On top of that, Werner is 24 years old, so for that price, Chelsea may have just found a striker who can lead their line for the best part of the next decade.
Ben Chilwell 4/5
Full-backs are so important in modern football, and Chelsea have just signed one of the best young left-backs in the country in the shape of Ben Chilwell.
The former Leicester man is an England regular these days, and once again, he could be the solution to Chelsea’s left-back problem for the next 10 years.
He’s proven at this level, he’s young and he’s talented, this may well be one of the shrewdest signings we see this summer.
Kai Havertz 4/5
In terms of pure talent and potential, it’s impossible to not score Kai Havertz a 5/5 after providing 18 goal contributions in 30 league games from midfield last term.
However, we can’t score him full marks due to the fact he’s cost Chelsea a reported £72m, and while that’s not a ridiculous price in this day and age, you’d be stretching to call it a bargain.
The German should add a lot of firepower to Chelsea’s midfield, and we can’t wait to see what sort of impact he has at Stamford Bridge.
Malang Sarr 4/5
While Malang Sarr may not be the best player Chelsea have brought in this summer, it is undoubtedly a very smart signing.
The £14.4m-rated defender has joined the Blues on a free transfer, and they’re already pretty much guaranteed to make a profit if they sell him before he’s kicked a ball.
Of course, there’s every chance he breaks into the first team, after all, he was touted as the next big thing not too long ago, but even if he flops, this is a no-lose situation for the Stamford Bridge outfit.
Thiago Silva 4/5
Thiago Silva is a 5/5 player, but it’s impossible to give this signing full marks due to his age.
The Brazilian has just captained PSG in a Champions League final, and with 89 international caps to his name, he’s one of the most experienced players you’re likely to find at the top level.
Unfortunately, he’s about to turn 36, and performances can sharply decline once you get to that age, so this one has to go down as a 4/5 due to the slight risk attached to having a defender who is headed towards the back end of his career.
Hakim Ziyech 3/5
Hakim Ziyech was Chelsea’s first signing in this spending spree, and there’s an argument to be made that he’s actually their most risky buy.
The Moroccan comes off the back of another brilliant season in the Eredivisie, providing 18 goal contributions in 21 appearances, but how many times have we seen players shine in Holland and flop in England?
Memphis Depay and Alireza Jahanbakhsh are two former Eredivisie Golden Boot winners who didn’t cut the mustard in the Premier League, while others such as Davy Klaasen and Vincent Jansson barely got a game, despite arriving for big money.
Ziyech may well be a pleasant surprise, but spending big on a player from the Netherlands has backfired a few too many times to get excited about this one.