After Jose Mourinho more or less announced his intention to come back to Chelsea last night in his press conference after Real Madrid’s exit from the Champions League but without actually saying it, there has been two other stories doing the rounds today.
One of those stories is the apparent £100m summer transfer kitty that Jose Mourinho will be handed by Roman Abramovich and the three possible signings that he makes with that money.
According to media reports, those three players are Radamel Falcao, Andre Schurrle and Marouane Felliani, and I just wonder if they are the answer to take our team that step forward to challenging for the title once again.
Falcao is the obvious choice for all of us because of his goalscoring exploits over the last two or three seasons. I have said it before and will say it again. If Chelsea had someone up top this season like Falcao, we would have been much, much closer to United and challenging.
It’s the other two signings that I am calling into question here, because it’s important that we have the right balance in the squad and we aren’t just signing players for the future, to loan them out and never see them play.
For example, last season Manchester United lost the league on goal difference to City. What does Sir Alex Ferguson do? He goes out and buys the Premier League’s top scorer in Robin van Persie! He sees where the team is lacking and spends money to fix it. That’s exactly what Chelsea should look to do this summer.
Chelsea have made some fantastic signings and have the basis of a team that can play a huge part in the Premier League for the next four or five seasons, so it’s important that they build on that and put a team together based around those players.
They need to establish where they are weak and make plans to strengthen in that area, and this is where I have to question the situation with Andre Schurrle. Don’t get me wrong here, I am sure he is a talented player. But they have to ask themselves if he would command a regular berth if they did sign him. If the answer is no, then we need to look elsewhere.
In saying that, is an attacking wide midfielder a player we should be looking at with the likes of Hazard, Moses, Marin and De Bruyne already here? It’s becoming more and more likely that Kevin De Bruyne is an important part in the Schurrle deal, but should he be? I personally believe that Chelsea are okay in that area and should look to invest in another position instead.
Now we look at Marouane Felliani. Again, I call this potential summer target into question. Is he the answer for the current Chelsea team to take us one step further? I doubt it.
One of the strengths of the current Chelsea side is the fact that we are mobile. They can pass and move at pace and move the ball quickly. Fellaini doesn’t strike me as someone who would fit into that style of play, and for £20m, I think there must be better options.
Based on what I have said here, I want you to tell me where you believe we need to strengthen, and if you believe that these three possible summer targets are the answer to take Chelsea to another level.