“It’s not my favourite thing to do and in the long run the focus has to be on coaching because it is why I am here,” admitted Thomas Tuchel when asked about holding more responsibility over Chelsea's transfer strategy this summer.
Since the takeover of Todd Boehly and Clearlake in June, senior figures integral to the club's previously defined transfer process have departed.
Marina Granovskaia who was in charge of the day-to-day running of the club left after a decade of service, and Petr Cech who had landed a hand in several key negotiations to convince players and Tuchel himself of the Chelsea project.
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Boehly, with no previous experience in football, took over the reins as interim sporting director for the short term before a permanent candidate is found. That could be Liverpool's transfer guru Michael Edwards or Monaco's Paul Mitchell, time will tell as the club aim to appoint one before Christmas.
Without that expertise in place, one might have preferred to have remained cautious in this window, but sadly Chelsea cannot take that approach. Losing two senior defenders forced Boehly and Tuchel to find replacements.
Across the squad in key areas this is a summer with a lot of danger, not only influenced by hefty mistakes of the past but also ensuring the new era begins to lead Chelsea down a path to ensure they are not repeated.
The first two signings under Boehly and Clearlake are by no means hidden games. Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly have been highly respected and established names in their positions for the majority of the past decade.
Neither player should be unknown quantities and should provide an instant impact on the here and now. In some ways, this reflects part of Boehly's approach to this busy first window.
Entrusting experience and consistent quality over the next big thing might act as a temporary judgement before a more refined structure behind the scenes is put in place.
"From our point of view, he’s a perfect addition to the group." Was Tuchel's verdict when Koulibaly was announced, pictured on Chelsea's social media channels like Sterling with the new Nike shirt. The only difference in backdrop, the Bellagio Fountain and the lights of Las Vegas replacing to the streets of Hollywood.
This is slightly undermined by Tuchel's clear willingness to pursue Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus, mainly scuppered by the player's preference for Bayern Munich. But it shows a flexibility to move swiftly onto an alternative that may provide Tuchel with the dressing room leadership he craves after Rudiger's departure.
This is not to suggest Chelsea are blinded by the glamour of stardom. Although Boehly met with super agent Jorge Mendes, it has become clear very quickly there will be no serious pursuit of a 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo this summer.
Sterling and Koulibaly make as much sense for their profile, attributes and connections within the current squad as merely what it could do to Chelsea's brand worldwide.
The rest of Chelsea's summer recruitment might start to lean a bit younger but ensuring the squad remains competitive whilst offering the new sporting director room to mould a long-term vision is key.
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