Chelsea have a knack for doing things last minute. Over the last few seasons, Chelsea have had some notable additions in the form of Raul Meireles, David Luiz and Fernando Torres all on deadline days since 2010. On the deadline, the side did the same, adding defensive depth in the form of former Fiorentina left-back Marcos Alonso while bringing Luiz back to Chelsea after selling him to Paris Saint Germain (PSG) for £50 million two years ago.
Chelsea were active in the transfer market prior to deadline day, signing Michy Batshuayi from Marsielle, N’Golo Kante from Premier League champions Leicester City and Eduardo from Dinamo Zagreb. In total, Antonio Conte mustered up a bill of £122 million – third most in the Premier League, only behind the two free spending Manchester clubs.
Chelsea had clear needs going into the window, with the defence and midfield being two talking points following a lackadaisical Premier League performance that saw the South London side finish tenth in the league. Looking at the additions, Batshuayi and Kante have already made impacts, powering Chelsea to three straight wins in the league.
In all competitive games, Batshuayi has gotten on the score-sheet three times while also providing a game winning assist in his first game. Kante has proved to be monumental, completing 61 passes on average over his first three game with a pass completion percentage of 95.1%.
Those hefty contributions have resulted in Chelsea maintaining a perfect start in all competitions.
Now, with Alonso and Luiz firmly in the picture, Chelsea can progress knowing that they have ironed out their defensive issues, added depth to their midfield and strengthened their strike force over the course of two months. From here, it’s a matter of applying the changes and moving forward. Now with surplus depth, Conte has decisions to make regarding the lineup.
Much doubt was cast over Branislav Ivanovic and his role with the club prior to the season starting. The club was unable to bring in reinforcements and Ivanovic was thrusted into a starting role for yet another season. After abysmal contributions last season, the doubt was evidenced. While he was solid in the back for much of the team’s first few games, it was clear that Chelsea could not rely on him moving forward. Enter Marcos Alonso.
Alonso will be Conte’s new left back, allowing Cesar Azpilicueta to move to his natural right back position. The move allows Azpilicueta to place emphasis on defense in a position where he has been accustomed to playing naturally for much of his career while allowing Alonso, who can also function as a midfielder, to get forward.
Outside of the two wing backs, Chelsea have somewhat of a log jam at center back. Currently, the pairing is Gary Cahill and John Terry, but with Luiz now in the picture, that could be altered. As of right now, expect Cahill to shift out of the lineup and Luiz take his place alongside Terry. The real change of the guard, though, will happen upon Kurt Zouma healing from injury. We could expect to see Terry slowly ushered out of the side in his final year of his contract and see Zouma and Luiz forge a partnership as the two center halves.
Due to the newfound defensive stability Chelsea possesses, both on the pitch and on the bench, Chelsea can aim to be more attacking. The insurance in midfield is there in Kante, but Conte could potentially look to insert Cesc Fabregas as a viable attacking option. In the 12 minutes of Premier League action he has received, Fabregas strived, assisting on Diego Costa’s game winning goal while attempting 19 passes, completing 84.2% of them.
It would probably result in Kante sitting behind Fabregas to allow for that stability, but Fabregas would then open the window for Willian and Eden Hazard to grace the wings, supplying to a two striker lineup of Costa and Batshuayi.
These two moves, though on paper only help the defense, actually change Chelsea’s scope of the season. Having played relatively conservatively, sans the game against Burnley, Chelsea have been constricted creatively due to a lack of defensive presence, but adding this much needed depth allows them to push forward and set forth a more attacking lineup.
Conte now has all the tools necessary to put together an attacking lineup and utilize his two-striker formation that he was famed with during his time as the Italian National Team manager and Juventus manager.
