When seven new readily available Chelsea players joining an already bloated squad questions will be asked by the fans. There is little disputing that.
Todd Boehly took on an ageing, tiring and thinning squad in need of a rebuild, spent over £550million on it and is still quite a way from completing the project. That is impressive whichever way it is viewed. It comes with an arrogance to want to do things differently and that must be admired. The time for Chelsea's success is not now, though.
In reverse of Roman Abramovich's money shaped plasters being applied consistently throughout his 19 year ownership Boehly has fast-tracked the squad with tremendous speed. 18 new players in two window with plans for most of them to be involved in the late 2020s is remarkable.
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The issue is that there are still so many players that he has inherited but not yet dealt with. It is a terminal issue at Stamford Bridge that has rumbled on for over half a decade. Overpaid and underperforming players not providing much tangible turn. No wonder an American billionaire and private equity firm want to move away and read from a different script.
What if Chelsea weren't defined by their recent chaotic years? Manchester City weren't always the all-conquering winners they are now. Things change and Boehly wants to move his Chelsea to be something different. Detaching old and new can be tough, and it is only logical that a big spending owner draws parallels with Abramovich.
The thing is now, in the short term at least, Graham Potter is the centre of the public attention. He is the man billed with getting a tune out of those available to him. On the very face of it being beaten by better-run teams assembled for fractions of the price of Chelsea's squad is embarrassing. It's not Potter's fault that it's been going wrong for so long at Stamford Bridge though.
Now it is time for some tough decisions to be made. The fact that Boehly watched the fruits of his multimillion pound summer investment lead to very little and continued to dig ever deeper into his pockets is impressive, or naive and disrespectful depending on your view point.
The strength to leave out a summer signing from the Champions League squad and be open to losing them less than seven months later is something Chelsea have lacked. It's easy to sell Timo Werner or loan out Romelu Lukaku when they weren't purchased on your watch, but to do it with your own investment is a different question.
Now it's down to Potter. He will not only have to cut his losses with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, someone who was signed for and by a different manager, but there will be similar issues on the horizon regarding Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and even Marc Cucurella. Against West Ham Potter has plenty of choices and there's no guarantees for anyone.
Havertz has struggled to hit top form consistently and missed several glaring chances against Fulham while Cucurella faces competition from teenager Lewis Hall and the returning Ben Chilwell for a spot at left-back. He is perhaps most under threat of missing out at the London Stadium whilst Havertz has increased competition in attack from Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, David Datro Fofana and Joao Felix.
These new players are seen as the future of the club and may now take priority until the end of the season, though there is hope that Felix can help get the best out Havertz still. With so much change going on it may still be appealing to stick with those that are known but if the bath water is going out the baby might go with it.
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