It is less than a month since Frank Lampard secured a top-four finish. Chelsea will soon figure more prominently in a very different top four, and for non-footballing reasons. If Ben Chilwell completes his move from Leicester, they will be responsible for three of the four biggest signings Premier League clubs can debut next season.
Hakim Ziyech’s transfer from Ajax was sealed so long ago it feels part of the distant past, and Timo Werner agreed to leave Leipzig for London two months ago.
Chilwell’s proposed arrival from Leicester will take Chelsea’s spending towards £150 million (Dh721m). Perhaps, with the additions of Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and a goalkeeper, their eventual expenditure could be more than £300 million.
It would represent an extraordinary outlay in a recession which is having horrific effects on many within football. Perhaps it supports the broader economic theory that the pandemic benefited the super-rich but precious few others. Certainly Roman Abramovich is still able to buy when even a profitable, successful club like Liverpool are reappraising their finances.
In Chelsea’s defence, their business so far has been funded in part by the sales of Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata, even if both now seem part of ancient history, and necessitated by their transfer ban, which meant this summer’s shopping list became longer.
Perhaps it is not a wanton display of excess, either. The £40 million fee for Ziyech felt relatively cheap when it was agreed in February. Werner would surely have commanded more than £47.5 million but for the release clause in his contract. Chelsea have negotiated the price for Chilwell down, just as they are trying to do for Havertz.
A potential price of around £50 million would still make Chilwell one of the most expensive full-backs ever, but it would mean Leicester’s hopes of emulating the £85 million they banked for Harry Maguire are dashed.
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If it suggests full-backs are still cheaper than central defenders like Maguire and Virgil van Dijk it also shows Leicester’s bargaining power was reduced by the end-of-season collapse that cost them Champions League football. The loss of Chilwell to a direct rival indicates part of the challenge the Premier League’s ambitious middle class face.
There is a case for saying Chilwell is still overpriced. His form, like Leicester’s, tailed off in the second half of the campaign. Certainly Arsenal got greater value for money in signing Kieran Tierney for £25 million last year and Chilwell’s value was inflated by the reality England have a glut of right-backs, but fewer of their left-sided counterparts.
And yet Chilwell’s credentials have long been recognised. His similarity with Leighton Baines goes beyond the physical. David Wagner recommended him to his close friend Jurgen Klopp before Andy Robertson’s development meant Liverpool did not need a first-choice left-back.
He has admirers at Manchester City; he would surely get in the City or Spurs sides and is arguably the second best in his position in the league.
Chelsea are strengthening in a position that felt a weakness. It is no secret Marcos Alonso is a better wing-back than full-back. Frank Lampard had so little confidence in Emerson Palmieri that he did not start a league game after January. The captain Cesar Azpilicueta was an accomplished left-back in the past but sometimes his deployment there felt more of a makeshift measure.
Certainly, Chilwell, as a natural left-footer, could overlap more effectively when a right-footed player, such as Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount or Werner, is Chelsea’s left-sided forward.
At 23, he might be Chelsea’s left-back for a decade. While Ajax’s Nicolas Tagliafico would have been a cheaper alternative, he turns 28 next week. Lampard’s long-termism remains one of his most admirable traits and a successor could benefit if Chilwell becomes Stamford Bridge’s next Ashley Cole.
But if they needed him, there is a case for saying other departments still represent greater priorities. They conceded 54 league goals last season, their most since 1996-97. Lampard started addressing that by moving N’Golo Kante into the deepest midfield role, and Chilwell provides another upgrade, but it nevertheless highlighted the fundamental failings at goalkeeper and centre-back.
Because if spending the best part of £150 million is a statement in itself, Chelsea will have a different kind of expensive eloquence if Chilwell is part of a remodelled rearguard that chalks up the clean sheets.
