Chelsea Transfers

[milka 3,407]

You can't blame Maresca he is a yes man anyway , he wanted experience in the squad,  upgrade from the las season, but no one give a shit from the   Clownlake they continue with youngsters like Kittens , Hato e.t.c even when you have Donnaruma the whole summer , even  when you could have  Maignan for 20 millions you said no we are fine with the Sanchez we are fine without Colwill we are title condenders. anyway  . 

[Vesper 31,108]

not gonna lie

I am losing interest in this ClownLake iteration of the team

to keep it simple, it is INSANE we did not completely upgrade at GKer and CBs (even before the Colwill injury)

you cannot win the EPL nor the CL with our CBs and GKers

simple as that

 

[Vesper 31,108]

Garnacho, Gittens or Neto? Analysing Chelsea’s left-wing options

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6665372/2025/09/27/Chelsea-neto-garnacho-gittens-left-winger/

 

 

Chelsea satisfied one of their key transfer targets twice over this summer, but are not yet reaping the full rewards.

A right-footed left winger was always a priority, with Mykhailo Mudryk suspended by the Football Association for allegedly breaching doping rules. He says that he “never knowingly used any banned substances”, but is out of the picture for the foreseeable future. Chelsea also opted against making Jadon Sancho’s loan from Manchester United permanent. Instead, they set about seeking alternatives.

Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens, two promising, young wingers with experience in top leagues, both arrived at Stamford Bridge for hefty fees — Gittens in early July, Garnacho at the end of August — but are yet to make a real impression. Gittens has made five appearances and Garnacho three, with the pair without a goal contribution between them.

After all the buzz about the right-footed left winger who would slot seamlessly into Enzo Maresca’s system, the starting left winger for Chelsea’s Champions League opener at Bayern Munich was actually the left-footed Pedro Neto.

Gittens and Garnacho are competing not only with one another but also with Neto, who is more experienced in Maresca’s system and capable of playing on either flank. Tyrique George can also play on the left, but Maresca has praised his performances as a striker in recent weeks and, with Liam Delap injured, that is where he is most needed.

The Chelsea careers of Garnacho and Gittens are still in their fledgling stage. They are still working out their role in an attack that cannot count on the creative services of Cole Palmer or Delap. But each has his own qualities.

Here, The Athletic analyses what Neto, Garnacho and Gittens bring to the table.

 

Pedro Neto in full flight down the left (Boris Streubel/Getty Images)

---

Injuries mean Maresca has little choice over many names on the teamsheet at the moment. The left wing is a welcome exception.

“We like wingers who are good in one-v-one, they are quite vertical, aggressive, they can attack, they can create something,” Maresca said late in August. He expects his wingers to stay wide, stretch the defensive line and make space for the creators in the middle, and get the ball up the pitch rapidly.

They also need a good understanding with the attacking full-back behind them. On the left, that is most often Marc Cucurella.

Based on those qualities, it is easy to see why Neto is a reliable option. Since the start of last season, only three players have averaged a higher distance per carry in the Premier League than Neto’s 8.0 metres, with his confidence and pace allowing him to drag his side upfield.

The example below from the recent draw at Brentford shows those qualities, even if Neto is on the right flank in this specific instance.

Neto’s run single-handedly takes the play from inside Chelsea’s own half to their opponents’ penalty box, and does not give Brentford’s defence time to get organised.

Neto also crosses more than either new signing. As a left-footer on the left, he is happy to drive to the byline and swing a cross in rather than go for goal himself.

That is important in the context of Delap’s absence and Joao Pedro being the starting striker. At the moment, Chelsea’s wingers also need to maximise the output of someone who is not a natural No 9. One difficulty the Brazil forward has had is his tendency to drop deeper and try to progress the ball himself; Neto is capable of doing that job and finding Joao Pedro at the end of it, which frees up the latter to advance into finishing positions.

However, Delap and Palmer’s injuries also create a need for others to share the goalscoring burden.

Garnacho shoots more than his competitors, averaging 3.4 shots per game since the beginning of last season, compared to Neto’s 2.2. Like Neto, he is direct and likes to carry the ball forward. However, he is more likely than Neto to use those carries to carve out opportunities for himself. Inverting from the left onto his stronger foot naturally contributes to this, and his explosive pace allows him to drive into the box and create chaos.

Defenders know he is capable of a powerful shot, so are naturally drawn out to close him down, creating space for team-mates.

The sequence below shows Garnacho’s role in the build-up to Moises Caicedo’s goal at Brentford: the home defenders are so focused on closing him down that Palmer and Cucurella’s presence is not properly addressed. Keane Lewis-Potter has to clear the ball rapidly out of Palmer’s path and it falls to Caicedo to fire home.

Garnacho’s aggression and single-minded desire to push towards goal helps to panic opponents, but he will need to add more variation to his attacking methods — such as combining with Cucurella to create overloads.

---

Gittens is similarly direct — or at least, he tries to be.

Last season, he was one of the most prolific take-on wingers in Europe, attempting 8.7 per 90 minutes on average for Dortmund. He also loved to cut inside and sniff out good shooting positions. That has not materialised to the same extent at Chelsea so far, but there have been glimpses of what he aims to do.

In the following example, seeing the thicket of Brentford defenders that would intercept any ball towards his team-mates in the centre, Gittens decides to go it alone.

His movement forces Mathias Jensen to step out towards him and creates space where Joao Pedro or Facundo Buonanotte could have moved to pick up a pass.

Gittens shoots and, though his effort is easily held by Caoimhin Kelleher, it was one of the few times a Chelsea player in that first half was able to carve out an opportunity against Brentford’s low block.

That serves as a welcome reminder of what Gittens can add, but his struggles with Michael Kayode’s physicality for most of the game highlighted that he still needs to adapt to the Premier League. A crucial way he should help Chelsea is by using the speed and unpredictability of his footwork to crack open low blocks, but he looks short of the confidence to do so yet.

At a basic level, this trio share speed and directness — but have subtle differences that point to how Maresca might employ them.

Gittens’ trickery makes him more suited to breaking up a low block. Garnacho’s explosiveness could be useful against tired legs as an impact player. Neto’s love of a drive down the touchline and a cross supercharges counter-attacks. Over what they hope is a long season across multiple competitions, Chelsea will need all of those tools.

[Vesper 31,108]

20 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

BlueCo probably thinking 'that Potter bloke is free'

[milka 3,407]

 

[JFKvsNixon 61]

20 hours ago, Fernando said:

Well some journos should asked why the transfer window we focus so much on attacking and did not do much to improve defense. 

Why the club thought this was a better idea?

Look at arsenal that was stack in defense and still went and got Hincapié. 

That was probably due to the club having the third best defensive record last season, but we struggled to score goals. Only Liverpool and Arsenal let in less goals than us, but in attack Brighton, Brentford both outscored us. We scored the same amount of goals as Spurs!

Then we also lost Sancho, who wouldn't accept our wage structure and had to make up for the loss of Mudryk.

[MoroccanBlue 5,399]

31 minutes ago, JFKvsNixon said:

That was probably due to the club having the third best defensive record last season, but we struggled to score goals. Only Liverpool and Arsenal let in less goals than us, but in attack Brighton, Brentford both outscored us. We scored the same amount of goals as Spurs!

Then we also lost Sancho, who wouldn't accept our wage structure and had to make up for the loss of Mudryk.

They value Colwill as a £80m centreback. 
 

Colwill gets injured for the season, and they decide not to replace an £80m centreback  when the most experienced centreback in the squad is Chalobah. 

 

[Special Juan 28,765]

The board think we have real quality in the squad, simple fact we don't, we have middle of the road average players, some of the starting 11 are bog average

[Fernando 6,726]

1 hour ago, JFKvsNixon said:

That was probably due to the club having the third best defensive record last season, but we struggled to score goals. Only Liverpool and Arsenal let in less goals than us, but in attack Brighton, Brentford both outscored us. We scored the same amount of goals as Spurs!

Then we also lost Sancho, who wouldn't accept our wage structure and had to make up for the loss of Mudryk.

That is true good analysis. 

So I guess next summer is when we will address the defensive side. 

Which is fine as long as we continue with the manager because I don't want to start again from the beginning where a new manager comes in and wants to try everyone... 

Edited September 28, 2025 by Fernando

[prime adriano 27]

10 minutes ago, Fernando said:

That is true good analysis. 

So I guess next summer is when we will address the defensive side. 

Which is fine as long as we continue with the manager because I don't want to start again from the beginning where a new manager comes in and wants to try everyone... 

Top manager makes instant impact (conte , tuchel) 

Maresca is shit 

[Mário César 1,483]

Just now, prime adriano said:

Top manager makes instant impact (conte , tuchel) 

Maresca is shit 

maresca is not shit but I think he is not good enough for us

but at least, one thing he is right. he demand a new center back and the board let him down 

Maresca is not our main problem. The real problem is the board, owners and the sport directs 

[Special Juan 28,765]

It's happened before when a board doesn't back a manager, the issue is, the cunts are picking the team from above Maresca and buying him players he doesn't want, nothing will change

[MoroccanBlue 5,399]

54 minutes ago, Mário César said:

maresca is not shit but I think he is not good enough for us

That’s how I see it too. 

[Mário César 1,483]

57 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

It's happened before when a board doesn't back a manager, the issue is, the cunts are picking the team from above Maresca and buying him players he doesn't want, nothing will change

yes the main problem is our strategy and how the owners and the board see the club, regardless the manager 

[JFKvsNixon 61]

3 hours ago, prime adriano said:

Top manager makes instant impact (conte , tuchel) 

Maresca is shit 

For us to have a good defensive record for such a young team last year, either the manager knows what he's doing or our defenders are exceptional for their age. 

Currently, everyone seems to be criticising the manager, so is it the players?

[Fernando 6,726]

4 hours ago, prime adriano said:

Top manager makes instant impact (conte , tuchel) 

Maresca is shit 

And with Conte and tuchel they made many woeful buys. 

So that is not good enough for me. 

[whats happening 1,666]

https://streamin.me/v/0e30a8c4

 

sign this guy

[mkh 760]

Enzo Maresca retains the full faith of the Chelsea board and sporting directors.

Injuries and red cards seen as biggest factor in recent results. Chelsea's aim remains to finish inside top four and have a run in the cups. [@Matt_Law_DT]

🤐😌

[OneMoSalah 9,104]

5 hours ago, Special Juan said:

The board think we have real quality in the squad, simple fact we don't, we have middle of the road average players, some of the starting 11 are bog average

The sporting directors and board believe they are making the right signings and buying quality though. They have done ever since binning most of the players off from that first transfer window with BlueCo. I alluded to in another thread, the quality in the starting 11 without Cole, Reece & Moises isn’t really there.

Not only that, there are guys who need to develop in the squad. This is why you need a mix of players with quality, proven, experienced players in and around the place who are good professionals. Guys to carry the load a bit when youngsters and inconsistent players struggle or pull them through games. And to influence or mentor the guys off the field. The balance is well off. And we have been seeing that for 3 years now.

Some of the guys have been here for a good couple of seasons now though and need to take a look in the mirror too, hiding behind this young team moniker and not taking responsibility. Trev alluded to it after the Man Utd game I think about how they’ve played in the PL for years now. Personally feel Enzo Fernandez is one. Defos a few others too.

No nastiness or ruthlessness about us at all, just a soft touch, we roll over and the “we are a young team we need to learn from this experience” excuse comes out 99.9% of the time from players or the manager. But we never learn. Never seen the likes of it for as long as I can remember - the recruitment model is snowballing into what looks like a serious lack of sporting ambition also.

I remember Jose’s second spell, one season in we were sitting third with a good record in bigger games and folk thought we could maybe be outside title contenders. He said that we were a small horse that needed milk and to learn to jump. Next summer he went out, recalled Courtois, signed Fabregas, Filipe Luis & Diego Costa. Won the title and League Cup.

Edited September 28, 2025 by OneMoSalah

[Laylabelle 9,727]

5 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

The sporting directors and board believe they are making the right signings and buying quality though. They have done ever since binning most of the players off from that first transfer window with BlueCo. I alluded to in another thread, the quality in the starting 11 without Cole, Reece & Moises isn’t really there.

Not only that, there are guys who need to develop in the squad. This is why you need a mix of players with quality, proven, experienced players in and around the place who are good professionals. Guys to carry the load a bit when youngsters and inconsistent players struggle or pull them through games. And to influence or mentor the guys off the field. The balance is well off. And we have been seeing that for 3 years now.

Some of the guys have been here for a good couple of seasons now though and need to take a look in the mirror too, hiding behind this young team moniker and not taking responsibility. Trev alluded to it after the Man Utd game I think about how they’ve played in the PL for years now. Personally feel Enzo Fernandez is one. Defos a few others too. No nastiness or ruthlessness about us at all, just a soft touch, we roll over and the “we are a young team we need to learn from this experience” excuse comes out 99.9% of the time from players or the manager. 

Exactly theyre not a young side anymore! But like you say there isnt that experience or headship on the field or players to take ownership of their mistakes.