It has perhaps become a meme in current days to mock Chelsea's inability to sign players and how whenever they approach a player and feel so close to signing him, he ends up somewhere else. Jules Koundé, Matthijs de Ligt, Raphinha, Nordi Mukiele, Robert Lewandowski, and other names were close to signing for Chelsea but ended up elsewhere, some closer than others.
This post will talk about how a club that won the UEFA Champions League last year is now struggling to bring top players into the club. As well as give an early prediction to how Chelsea's season ends in the Premier League.
The Prestige
This applies to the players who joined Barcelona and Bayern after having contact with Chelsea.
There are levels clubs have in terms of ranking them by which is more likely to be joined by a player. The easy number one is Real Madrid. Players would love representing Real Madrid the most. But, if we'd call Real Madrid level 1, then level two won't have Chelsea.
Level 2 would be clubs like Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and Manchester United, among a few more. These clubs have more history than Chelsea, more popular than Chelsea.
Prestige comes with a certain level of support in terms of media coverage, marketing, and popularity.
This reason is normal to explain Chelsea's disadvantage against these kinds of clubs when they want a player as bad as Chelsea, it is normal that Chelsea comes second in that race.
Networking
Abramovic's exit along with his entire team left a huge gap behind. It also paralyzed the club for many months during the season until the new owner arrived.
If we go back to some of the statements made by de Ligt for example, we'd hear him hint at how Bayern Munich were negotiating with him even before the summer transfer window, in March to be specific. Same with Barcelona and Raphinha and Lewandowski.
Yes, the official is submitted in the summer, but, a lot of work, some would say most, is done way before that. Chelsea entered the summer at a disadvantage as clubs have already spoken to and persuaded players that are worth persuading.
Chelsea simply paid the price of changing the owner. The new team doesn't have the same networks and officials who could pressure and win in these kinds of situations.
The Manchester City And Liverpool Curse
In Germany, you have Bayern Munich. In Spain, you have Real Madrid and Barcelona. Paris-Saint Germain in France, Italy is having a three-way fight. Those are the clubs most likely to win titles in their domestic league and cups. Even in Europe, they are seen as more likely to win than other domestic clubs.
The situation in England doesn't have Chelsea as favorable to win any title. This is not something exclusive to Chelsea as Arsenal, Tottenham, and Manchester United suffer from the same thing. Liverpool and Manchester are the favorites to win everything domestically and both were also close to winning in Europe if it wasn't for Real Madrid.
Even with a European title, Chelsea still can't climb higher beyond being third best in England. It's a curse that all the teams in the top 6 suffer from and have to work to close the gap between them and Liverpool and Manchester City to attract more players rather than depending on the coach's relationship with certain players to attract them or having to settle on players the top clubs aren't interested in.
What Lies Ahead
Chelsea is the least improved team in the top 6 going into this season. Lukaku might not be the greatest loss but the midfield is a year older and is at the point where that matters. Yes, they brought in Kalidou Koulibaly in defense but they also lost Christensen and Rüdiger so it can't be counted as an improvement.
Sterling might be a leg up Lukaku for Chelsea but he was literally Manchester City's most wasteful player.
My Prediction: 5th
Chelsea was 2 losses away from missing out on the Champions League last season. This season had the teams behind Chelsea improving immensely to get an extra win or two while Chelsea hasn't even stayed at their current level. It would take a lot of work from Chelsea to keep their Champions League spot.