Willian is not what the doctor ordered for Chelsea

Willian

With the recent acquisition of Samuel Eto’o from Anzhi Makhachkala on a one year deal, it ceases to amaze me that Chelsea went for Willian instead of a top quality striker capable of firing in the goals.

Bought for £30m from the same team as Eto’o, the Brazilian joins an endless array of attacking midfielders, who are already fighting tooth and nail, for a first team spot. It also raises a lot of question marks over the player, who just earlier this year moved to Anzhi for the same amount.

The likes of Mata, Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle and De Bruyne already look like a formidable attacking unit, which is the envy of plenty of other clubs. Willian would, no doubt, find it hard to displace all of them and walk right into the first team.

On being asked whether the arrival of Willian would lead to any changes in the squad, Mourinho said: “Do we need to sell? No, we don’t. Do we need to loan? Probably yes, because I don’t like to work with big squads. I like to work with a small group of players and I think 22 is a perfect number to answer to our needs in four different competitions, and at same time to leave the door open for some kids to be selected in a few matches.”

And on being asked whether Willian’s arrival will mean the departure of Mata, Mourinho said: “He’s a player we all like, he’s a player we all want to keep. We want to add quality to the quality we have. So Juan is not a player we want to lose.”

And on being asked whether Willian would be surplus to requirements, Mourinho’s argument was that during the business end of the season, injuries will mean that he will need a big squad. If that was the case, then the Blues should have gone out and purchased a squad player on the cheap. Chelsea already have so many attacking options and splurging the cash on another one wasn’t really the solution.

Especially, when another area of the pitch is in dire need of reinforcements. Having already lost to AS Monaco and PSG in their pursuit of Edinson Cavani and Radamel Falcao respectively, Chelsea were definitely on the lookout for another striker. The public courting of Wayne Rooney by Mourinho was evidence of that. It showed that Mourinho himself understood that, and although the squad was brimming with attacking midfielders, it was short on proven goal scorers.

A trio, consisting of an out-of-sorts Torres, Demba Ba and a promising youngster, in Lukaku, isn’t really what you would want, when you are competing for trophies on all fronts, both domestic and also in Europe. So, Mourinho was well within his right to go looking for a top class striker.

But, after a futile attempt in signing Wayne Rooney, he should have turned towards somebody else. And whilst Eto’o is certainly a valuable addition to the squad, with his wealth of experience in Europe. But age would be a factor counted against him.

Eto’o, at best, is a stop-gap measure and not a solution for the future. All of this makes the £30m signing of Willian an expensive luxury that Chelsea could have definitely done without. It looked as if Willian to Spurs was almost a done deal. In the eleventh hour, Chelsea came in and sealed the deal and on deeper analysis, Willian, whilst no doubt a wonderful player, wasn’t really what Chelsea needed.

Chelsea were crying out loud for a top quality finisher along the lines of Soldado or Higuain. And, with a day to go in the transfer window, they might still get it. But, Willian is definitely not the answer to their striking woes.