Who do Chelsea need to bring in this summer?

Oh, how I’d love to see this again.

Yes, this may be another post debating our possible summer signings – but can anyone blame me? The transfer window always proves to be one of the most exciting times of the year. The anticipation, the whispering, the rumours, the excitement at announcements – truly, it’s just a lot of fun to follow. The season is starting to wind to an end (albeit I know we’ve still got a long way to go after that huge Europa League win and for CL qualifying), but as everyone knows, the rumour mill is churning. As always, we seem to be ‘linked’ to everyone, especially with the inevitable managerial change.

Speculation is at a high.

So, who do we need? I’ve been thinking on it a lot lately. As much as this pains me, I don’t think that we’re a world-class striker away from being a team like Barca, Bayern, United, etc. Don’t get me wrong – we can compete with the best of them, as we’ve shown United thrice this year. But to have the same consistency as these teams, week in, week out, I can’t shake this feeling that we need something more. Yet, for the life of me, I can’t put my finger on it.

Obviously, a striker is a starting point. Torres has earned my respect (as a person) in recent weeks with the way he’s handled this speculation about his future with class and dignity. He knows better than anyone that he’s had a rough run of things in a blue shirt and that most of the supporters would rather see him heading for the exit – but he’s always been classy, respectful, and thankful to any/all support that fans give him. Having said that, as a player, he’s not doing it for me. A super sub, maybe – but we need greater consistency than what he or Ba are offering. I also don’t think Lukaku is the answer, yet. So that leaves us needing a big-game striker (for the love of God, someone who comes through like Drogba, please?). I love the idea of Falcao, but in practicality, I don’t like that we’d either have to give up Courtois, or that we’d have to fork out more than $50 million for him. He’s pure class, yes, and would be a truly fantastic addition, but I question the feasibility.

I like the notion of Jackson Martinez. He’d still be a pricey addition, but not quite to Falcao’s level, and I think he’s cut from the same mould as Falcao – an out and out poaching striker who’s deadly in the air, and athletic enough to make it happen with the ball at his feet. Even so – let’s say we get a Falcao, or Jackson, or even Cavani (on whom I’m still not sold – another story for another day), like I said earlier, I can’t shake this feeling that we’re lacking a cutting edge. We’re missing the proverbial ‘twist of the knife’ to finish off our opponents. We’re missing a cutting edge, of sorts.

This is what has been bothering me. Yet, if I logically think it out, we’ve got quality all over the pitch.

Defence – Azpi (who I think is developing into a solid RB); Ivanovic (who is often supremely underrated – he’s always good for a few goals off set pieces); Terry has still got it, and his leadership qualities are invaluable; Luiz is truly maturing, becoming the world-class talent we were promised upon purchase, and an assured first-teamer, whether that be in midfield or in defence. Cahill is our “Terry of the future”; leader, willing to lay it all on the line, and a motivator. Cole still has the wheels he always has, and still the brilliant lock-down defender we need. He’s also still one of the best at getting forward. Bertrand has got some refinement to do, but being home-grown and with the quality that we’ve seen him flash at times, I believe he’s one to stick with for the future.

Midfield – Ramires is, for me, indispensable. He’s the definition of all-purpose. A box-to-box midfielder. His defence is generally his second responsibility, but there have been countless times he’s tracked back to break up a big counter, often beating some defenders back. His talent and creativity going forward has been fantastic in support behind MAZACAR. Mikel is one that I tend to be hard on (one reason being he never makes a forward pass), but his defensive quality is undeniable. Lampard deserves another year, if not for his yearly contribution of a dozen goals, then for his leadership qualities. I don’t think there’s much to argue about that. Romeu unfortunately got his season cut short, but I think he could be a first-teamer over Mikel, assuming he didn’t lose his step through injury.

Attacking Mid – There’s really not much to be said. We’ve got some of the best attacking midfield talents in the game in Mata, Hazard, and Oscar. Moses coming off the bench is class, and I’d like to see De Bruyne back to show what he can do. Another winger might be an area for strengthening, but the downside to bringing in another superstar here is that it would likely keep one of the MAZACAR on the bench in most games.

Strikers – Torres was addressed earlier. Ba is a super-sub and an impact player for me. I don’t see him being a week-in, week-out scoring machine. Lukaku has never really been given the chance to shine in Blue, but his spell at West Brom this season has made me hopeful for the future – nonetheless, I don’t think he’s ready to be our #1.

So there’s my logical (possibly biased?) analysis of most of the first-team squad. Like I said earlier, other than a striker, where do we need strengthening? Am I just being pessimistic? Or do we just need more time for our guys to ‘gel’ together and breed that winning spirit?

As always, I’m genuinely interested to hear what the Chelsea community has to say on this – I’m eager to know if the lack of trophies is causing a withdrawal and I’m losing my mind in pessimism, or if anyone else feels the same!

Carefree & KTBFFH!