Pre-season report: 4/8/2011
Chelsea manager José Mourinho wasted no time putting his mark on the club, wasting no time making several transfers in and out, as well as loaning youngsters out for some first-team experience. Mourinho has also sacked many of the existing backroom staff and replaced them with some of his own. Roberto Di Matteo retains his role as assistant manager:
"I would be very, very foolish to let Roberto go. He's a legend at this club and I think his managerial record to date speaks for itself. He'll be a very important asset and I look forward to working with him."
The controversial transfer of Italian midfielder Lorenzo Crisiteg was completed on 8/7/2011 for a fee of £500k. Inter manager Claudio Ranieri is reportedly furious that one of the clubs hottest prospects has left for such a small fee. Crisiteg refused to sign pro terms with the Milan club, and even though Inter could have been entitled to around £4m compensation via tribunal, the offer from Chelsea was accepted to avoid bad publicity and a long drawn out legal process between the two clubs. Two days later, defender Alex was sold to Man City for a fee of £10m. The defender was deemed surplus to requirements following the recruit of Gary Cahill and even though City are seen as strong title rivals to Chelsea, Mourinho admitted that the fee was too good to refuse for a 29 year old utility player.
On the same day, Chelsea completed a double signing from Barcelona- Ibrahim Affelay and Rafinha. Affelay joins on a 3 year contract for £1.7m, while Rafinha (brother of highly talented Spain midfielder Thiago) has signed a season long loan, with Chelsea having the option of making the deal permanent for £4.5m at any time. Chelsea fans are delighted that a Dutch international has been signed for such a small fee, and look forward to seeing their new number 14 in action. The next few days saw the arrival of youngsters Lucas Andersen, Laurentiu Brancescu and Jese from AaB, Juventus and Real Madrid respectively. In a press conference to introduce the youngsters, Mourinho said this
"These players may be young but they have the world at their feet. I know Jese very, very well from Madrid and I can tell you that in 10 years he could be as good as Ronaldo. He can go past a man and always looks for the goal. I'm very happy he has given up his life in Madrid to make the right move for his football career. Lucas is someone my scouts have watched for some time now, and he is a very intelligent player- creative and has a footballing brain much older than he is. Brancescu, I think, can be this clubs number 1 in years to come. Even though he is on loan, I am delighted to have secured a first option to buy the player".
On 15/7/2011, Chelsea completed their first high-profile transfer of the summer by announcing the signing of Brazilian winger Willian for a fee of £7.5m, plus a further £2m depending on club and international appearances. Willian, 22, was playing for Ukranian club Shakhtar.
"I am very pleased to be sat here with Willian today. I have watched him for some time and I don't think I have seen a faster player. He is technically gifted and works very hard for the team. I am sure he will only get better and better with time and it's great to sign a player like this for such a small fee."
The transfer is widely seen as a good piece of business by the clubs fans. Although uncapped by Brazil, Willian is touted as being a future samba star and was wanted by clubs across Europe. Chelsea will play Shakhtar in a pre-season friendly at Stamford Bridge on 6/8/2011 as part of the deal.
Chelsea's latest signing of the window has been Chilean international Sebastien Toro for £1m from Colo Colo. The 21 year old has joined Dutch feeder club Vitesse for 3 years while he earns a work permit to play in England.
In other transfer news, Carl Magnay, Rhys Taylor and Ben Gordon have all left the club on loan. Marko Mitrovic has left the club permanently to sign for Peterborough.
Chelsea's pre-season tour of the USA, China and Japan may have earned millions in TV revenue, but results on the field have been indifferent. Chelsea have been criticised for not putting the 'soccer' teams to the sword, and strikers Drogba and Torres have looked unfit and short of confidence. However, there have been some promising performances from the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Juan Mata, scoring 4 goals each.
Nicholas Anelka came back to haunt his former club in the draw at Shanghai Shenua. Fans will be worried that the club have not scored for their last 3 friendlies against inferior opposition, but on a positive note the squad have only conceded 5 goals.
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Mourinho looks to be favouring a variation of the 4-3-3 used last time as well as at Inter and Real Madrid. Wingers Mata and Willian have been looking to bomb past defenders down the line before looking for killer balls for Torres or Drogba to tuck away. It also appears that full backs Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa have been told to stay back and defend more than they may be used to, and midfielder Josh McEachran has seen a lot of first team action, suggesting Mourinho may be ready to implement his youth much quicker than expected.
