The moral problems with Chelsea’s transfer strategy | OneFootball

At the time of writing, with just under two weeks left of the 2024 summer transfer window Chelsea have signed a total of nine players for a combined €189m, sealed deals for 17-year-old wonderkids Estêvão Willian (€34m)  and Kendry Páez (€17m) to join in July 2025, whilst making five sales accumulating to €103m, as well as €5m deal for their youth side to sell 18-year-old Michael Golding Leicester City

Not including Páez and Estêvão, the incomings attain an average age of just 21.2 years-old. On the other hand, four of those five sales were graduates from Chelsea’s academy, namely: Omari Hutchinson (€23m to Ipswich Town), Lewis Hall (a loan made permanent for €33m by Newcastle United) and Ian Maatsen (€44m to Aston Villa).

Granted, Hutchinson and Mattsen were acquired from Feyenoord and Arsenal academies respectively, but, having spent at least three years on the club’s books, they still pass as ‘club-trained’ players per UEFA’s definition.

Moreover, this list of sales is expected to have included Conor Gallagher by now, but, in a transfer saga that would stand as one of the most disgraceful mistreatment of any player, never mind one that has been at the selling club since he was a boy, Gallagher still hasn’t completed his proposed €42m move to Atlético Madrid.

With a contract up next summer and not a part of new Manager Enzo Maresca’s long term plans, the Englishman – who played more league minutes than any of his teammates last season – had agreed a deal with Diego Simeone’s side, traveled to Madrid, completed media duties, medicals, and pretty much all documents bar the final official contract signing just a few days before the beginning of the season.

However, with Chelsea’s connected deal to sign Atlético striker Samu Omorodion falling through last minute, Gallagher was then left alone in a hotel for days as he waited in limbo to see whether his move would actually go through, only to eventually fly back to London, where he would train separate from the first-team group.

Being left to train separately isn’t an isolated incident at Cobham this summer either, with David Datro Fofana, Romelu Lukaku, Armando Broja, and Trevoh Chalobah – the latter two of which are also academy graduates – all being excluded by Maresca in an effort to push them out of the club.

And, although those transfer situations may not be as drastic as Gallagher’s, it’s still a damning example of the lack of respect Chelsea are showing to their players – specifically those which are homegrown.

This isn’t exactly untrodden territory for The Blues though. Because, as well as those previously mentioned, a further six academy graduates, such as Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Mason Mount, have been sold since BlueCo’s £4.25bn takeover of the club in May 2022.

The reason for this is complicated, and was something we explained in a different yet similar piece on academy graduates last summer, but it essentially relates to amortisation (yes, that dreaded word) and academy players holding ‘zero value’ on a club’s books, therefore allowing said team to sell them for them a ‘pure profit’ in their annual accounts.

As Chelsea have shown with their £1bn-plus transfer spend under BlueCo’s ownership so far, this can significantly facilitate mass spending on incoming players, and, most notably, help them comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations (PSR).

Ultimately, this sees academy graduates treated as assets, rather than people, which, for reasons that shouldn’t need explaining, is a significant problem.

The above of course goes for all players, but, rightly or wrongly, it feels different for those who emanate from clubs’ academies.

As almost any fan of a football club will state, there’s something special, more sentimental, more memorable about a home-grown player breaking through into the first-team. Whether that be in seeing them make a one-off debut substitute appearance towards the end of the season, feature prominently as a young talent with world-class potential, or even captain the side to multiple trophies throughout their entire career; as was the case with Chelsea icon John Terry.

Current Chelsea captain Reece James may also fall into the latter category, having been beloved by fans in all of his 158 appearances (and counting) since his debut in 2019.

However, given the treatment of other academy products names during that time, including pre-BlueCo sales of James’ youth teammates Marc Guéhi, Tammy Abraham, and Fikayo Tomori – all of whom could make a reasonable case to in Chelsea’s current side – the 24-year old right back stands out as the anomaly, rather than the norm.

And that’s where the problem lies, because when current member of the academy, or even a young fan, dreams at the prospects of starring under the bright lights of Stamford Bridge, yes, they’ll see James or Terry as heroes, but they’ll mainly see the dozens that have been extradited from the squad too.

It’s important to understand that this is not referencing all academy players, but rather the under one percent of them that do make it to the Premier League level.

That truly outlines the issue. Because it means that even if you are of that minuscule amount, or the even smaller amount, such as Gallagher, that have gone on to make 100+ appearances in the top flight, you will still end up being forced out and mistreated by your club.

Even from a purely cynical business perspective, it still doesn’t make sense. Not only will it push away an increasingly disillusioned and dissatisfied fanbase, but it’s also very plausible that it decrease the quality of the academy.

As, although the profits generated do allow Chelsea to acquire global talent for exorbitant fees, the top-level youth talent that they need to sell will be discouraged to either leave Chelsea before they breakthrough into senior football, or not even join them in the first place, due to the probability that they will eventually be sold. Thus, Chelsea will have fewer players to sell for a ‘pure profit’ in the books, and therefore be able to make fewer signings and have a litany of potential financial implications.

It’s also not as if the home-grown sales are being replaced by those ready to provide immediate, top-class performances for a side challenging for titles, as is the case at Arsenal, for example. Instead, these players – some of which have gone on to play for, or garner interest from, top European sides – are being swapped for others of a similar age, experience, and arguably quality.

For instance, of the 35 (!) players BlueCo have signed, 20 are aged under-21 and often have no more than one year of senior football under their belts, if any at all.

The tactical aspect of this strategy is a different topic for a different time, but it’s also worth noting that, due to the sheer quantity of similar players acquired, pathways are not only blocked for academy products, but for the new signings too – many of which barely even see the field for Chelsea, let alone have enough time to assert themselves as a consistent squad member. Ultimately, this hinders the development of each individual, and their respective chances of establishing themselves at the club.

For instance, €16m Deivid Washington and new has predominantly played with the youth side, whilst names like Cesare Casadei Casadei (€15m) and the aforementioned Datro Fofana (€12m) are likely to join Diego Moreira (originally a free transfer) in being sold after few appearances and multiple unfruitful loans.

Then there’s those, those such as Ângelo Gabriel, Andrey Santos, and Caleb Wiley, who have been shipped out on loan to fellow BlueCo-owned side Strasbourg, or first team regulars Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk, all of whom have less time to develop and are under significant pressure to immediately impress and outperform the abundance of current, or future teammates playing in their positions.

Nevertheless, the detriment to the respective progression and ultimately careers of these individuals isn’t particularly an issue for BlueCo, because, at the end of the day, only the best of the best will withstand. Or, at least, that’s the aim. But, in reality, as the troubles Chelsea have faced both on and off-the-pitch over the past few seasons clearly highlight, this strategy isn’t sustainable, nor successful.

Finally, it’s important to note this strategy is by no means exclusive to Chelsea, and has been especially utilised by multiple clubs facing potential PSR implications in recent transfer windows.

For example, this summer Newcastle have sold Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest for £35m, Aston Villa and Everton swapped Lewis Dobbin and Tim Iroegbunam for £9m each, whilst Chelsea themselves acquired Leicester star player Kiernan Dewsbury Hall for £30m and Omari Kellyman from Villa – who moved for £19m despite having never made his senior debut.

Then there’s Manchester City, who have have sold a myriad of academy prospects over the years, including current Blues stars Roméo Lavia and Cole Palmer, as well as also being guilty of trading and loaning foreign talents between sister clubs without ever playing them, as was the case with Tottenham’s Pedro Porro, and new Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz.

However, as those sales illustrate, City Football Group’s (CFG) transfer dealings have actually provided quite a stable and consistent pathway for players all over the world, and is rather a problem due to the impact had on other CFG-owned clubs, such as new Citizens signing Savinho’s former side Troyes. As such, their multi-club ownership related transfers are a whole other topic, for a whole other time.

Regarding the other clubs named, Newcastle and Villa have sold academy players to facilitate spending for European Football, whilst Everton have done so simply to save them from an existential crisis. Consequently, whilst it’s still not necessarily excusable, none have exploited this strategy to the same degree as Chelsea, and therefore do not warrant the same levels of criticism, as they are not as poignant an example to illustrate this transfer strategy’s moral problems,

And, as for Maresca and Newcastle boss Eddie Howe’s argument that PSR “compels” and “forces” clubs to consistently sell academy stars, and is thus a “Premier League problem”, rather than one of the clubs selling said players, well, they are partially correct.

This PSR ‘loophole’ is an issue, and the rules do need to be adjusted to stop does significantly encouraging club’s to sell their homegrown talent. However, this does not mean that the club have to do so.

Because, at the end of the day, the only reason they are put in that desperate situation is because they spent so much money on incoming transfers.

So, the answer to solving the moral problems of Chelsea’s transfer strategy is simple: Todd Boehly needs to stop buying shiny new toys.

Travis Levison | Get Football