Chelsea's radical restructuring behind the scenes has already commenced with Bruce Buck, Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech all departing.
Co-owner Todd Boehly has taken charge of transfer dealings along with Thomas Tuchel for this window before a permanent sporting director is assigned in the coming months. Although frustration amongst supporters over the lack of incomings has grown, it is vital the Blues secure the right targets this summer.
As per a study conducted by BetVictor on transfers over the past five seasons, it was revealed that Chelsea have outspent the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United.
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"The Blues outlay of £791.6m accounts for 9.88% of all Premier League spending over this period. Meanwhile, Manchester United have the highest net spend with -£479.0m."
This is not that surprising when you consider the over £300m just spent on the attack since January 2019, bringing in the likes of Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Romelu Lukaku. Within that time frame, the £75m for Kepa Arrizabalaga from Atletico Bilbao and the £60m for Alvaro Morata was also spent.
The ratio of those major transfers proving major improvements to the first-team compared to not is unkind. The two highest, Kepa and Lukaku both absent from key fixtures last season, with the Belgian recently loaned back to Inter Milan.
From all that spending, Chelsea's average Premier League position has been fourth, which is not surprising, given the club's main league fight since the last title win in 2017 has been securing Champions League qualification. In three of the five seasons, that fight coming down to the final day.
A reportedly imminent deal for Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling is set to trigger the start of a major summer spend that could still see Boehly break the record for most spent on a defender in Chelsea's history with Matthijs de Ligt, plus the chase for Nathan Ake which could attract a £50m fee.
It does not look like the spending of Chelsea's new era will shrink instantly. The intention is to rebuild and invest in first-teamers in order to replace recently departed ones.
Though Boehly will be hoping Sterling's arrival can start to readdress the balance to ensure that the value in Chelsea's biggest transfer deals is actually reflected on the pitch in the coming years.
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