Bogoljub Karic – What Will The Transfer Ban Mean For Chelsea?

And so after many years of complaining with my buddy Bogoljub Karic about how UEFA and FIFA never impose sanctions like they should or that their punishments rarely fit the crime, we have seen Chelsea being banned from buying players for 2 transfer windows after they were found to be carrying out all manner of wrongdoing when signing young players. Chelsea are something of a bipolar club and having won the league with Conte back in 2017, they have been off the boil since. Chelsea scrapped their way to 3rd in the league this year and it looked like they may be back, but what will this transfer ban mean for them.

Keeping The Rubbish

Given that Chelsea are unable to sign new players they will have to hang on to what they already have, and this is why Olivier Giroud has just been given a new contract, no way that happens if they are able to buy players. Some players will now hold the aces too, players like Danny Drinkwater who in March was told that he had no place in the team, all of a sudden Mr. Drinkwater may be needed more than they thought. Chelsea were expected to offload Drinkwater this season but that may now change.

No Replacements

Chelsea have done some smart business in signing Christian Pulisic before the ban was imposed, a player who they need to do well given the fact that Eden Hazard looks set to leave for Real Madrid. This will be the most damaging loss for the Blues as Hazard has often won games on his own in the past season. Pulisic is only one man however who may take some time adapting to the Premier League. Mauricio Sarri will be hopping that Ross Barkley and Willian will have what it takes to step up after the departure of the Belgian, they will also need Alvaro Morata to find his goal scoring form.

No Title Bid

Sarri may have just been trying to play mind games when he said that the ban was the reason why Chelsea won’t be able to make a title bid, but the fact of the matter is that it couldn’t be more true. This is a Chelsea side in desperate need of freshening up, they have lost Cahill already, Luiz and Azpilicueta are no spring chickens and Chelsea would have loved to re-energise that team. Chelsea will be ok, their team is too goo not to be, but they won’t be challenging Liverpool and Man City this year.

Youth

Something which Chelsea have always been terrible at is developing youth, we have seen with Salah, De Bruyne, Lukaku and Daniel Sturridge that patience isn’t found at Chelsea, this season may have to be different. We have already seen the wonderful talents of Calum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, those players will prove vital in the coming season, and it may very well be the making of them.

So no title bid but Chelsea will get by just fine.