So here we are again England limp out of a tournament and the every 2 year autopsy on English football is in full swing again, Luis Suarez sinks his teeth into another human, Liverpool sell their best player despite not being a selling club and Real Madrid seem to be splashing out a massive fee for an attacking midfielder. But where it differs a little bit this summer is at Chelsea where the manager Jose Mourinho insists Chelsea are done in the market this summer despite the season not starting for another 4 weeks! Forgive me if I take the words from a man who said “its Rooney or no-one” before then signing Willian and Eto’o and shortly after admitting he is a “liar” with a pinch of salt. Having said that if Jose is not telling porkies and this is our transfer dealings over with i’m very happy with the squad we have and in my first article of this season which will be in two parts I want to look back at the players we have signed and let go so far this summer. Arguably its the players we didn’t sign this summer which could be the biggest deals of the window for us in returning loanies Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku to the club. But today i just want to focus on actual cash purchases this summer so far.
Mario Pasalic (19) – Croatian – Signed from Hajduk Split for £3million:
Labelled the next Luka Modric (the one who got away in my opinion) he was included in Croatia’s 30 man provisional World Cup squad so that shows how highly thought of the lad is. Obviously not likely to be around the first team this season and a possible loan to Elche in Spain is being talked about already but definitely one to keep a close eye on going by reports.
Kurt Zouma (19) – French – Signed from St Etienne for £12million:
Officially signed for the blues in January but was loaned back to Saint-Etienne for the remainder of the season. A very strong, physical and vocal centre back who seems to relish battles with tough opponents. I posted a clip online last season from the Saint-Etienne dressing room after a big win against Monaco and he was leading the rallying group huddle and to see that from such a young lad was impressive. I instantly thought “replacement for John Terry one day”. Its a very good deal for us but i’m not 100% sure what will happen to him this season. He could go out on loan but the departure of David Luiz may mean he could play back-up for Terry, Cahill and Ivanovic this season.
Francesc Fabregas (27) – Spanish – Signed from Barcelona for £30million.
When i first heard that we were being linked with Cesc i just rubbished the rumours instantly thinking if he came back to England it would only be to 
Arsenal. And then when i was having an alcoholic beverage in the in-laws garden mother nature called as it does. As i walked through the living room a certain sports news channel was on and the yellow bar was across the bottom and it read “Chelsea sign Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona”. I honestly had not been that excited about us signing a player since Eden Hazard and i’d even say i was more excited about this one! For me Cesc is a sensational footballer, is not much worse creativity wise than Juan Mata and far more versatile than him too. We also have to factor in that he already knows this league so no adaptation time should be needed and he registers as home grown when selecting our Premier League and Champions League 25 man squads. I cannot wait to see him playing for us and i believe he has the tools to help unlock them teams who sit deep against us the same ones we dropped points against last season.
Diego Costa (25) – Spanish/Brazilian – Signed from Atletico Madrid for £32million.
One of the worst kept transfer secrets of the summer and we have partly known he was joining us since we drew Atletico in the Champions League semi finals back in April! 36 goals in 50 appearances for Atletico last season is very impressive and only Cristiano Ronaldo scored more, but it doesn’t stop there! I have seen many football fans including Chelsea label Costa as a “one season wonder” but that just is not the case so lets put this to bed now shall we. The season prior to last (12/13) he netted 20 times in 36 appearances despite being second choice to Radamel Falcao, he leaves Atletico with numbers 64 goals in 135 appearances! This lad has everything to succeed in the Premier League, power, two feet, reading of the game and fighter mentality. We saw the fighter in him last season squaring up to John Terry a couple of times over the 2 legs which some people didn’t like but i can guarantee one man who loved it was JT himself. He is a typical Jose player and the fact he turned down Brazil to play for Spain knowing the he would have to play in that country and receive untold amount of abuse shows how mentally strong he is too. Although he has everything to succeed he is a big name Chelsea striker signing and we know how most of them have gone in recent history so i suspect all Chelsea fans will have their fingers crossed on this one!
Filipe Luis (28) – Brazilian – Signed from Atletico Madrid for £15million.
Many have questioned this transfer because we could have got 19 year old and Chelsea fan Luke Shaw for an extra £15million but i think its quite simple to
understand. Luis was most definitely the best left back in world football last season and at 28 is in the prime of his career. Jose has had his year of transition and his free pass season but this season he has to win something major otherwise he will be receiving his P45 in the post next summer so Luis who is in his prime is less of a gamble than teenager Shaw right now. Equally as good attacking as he is defending he will allow Azpilicueta to play in his natural position too which could offer us some much needed natural width going forward something i believe we have been lacking for years. All that aside i think we will come to love Luis very quickly, fans want one thing and that is the player to never stop working and this lad will not stop as he said himself in his first interview with us.
If the window was to slam shut tomorrow and we completed no more deals i will still think this is the best window we have had since i can remember and i think we are ready to compete for the top trophies. But as i said in my opening paragraph i don’t believe a word Jose says so would i would not be surprised if another big signing turns up at SW6 before September 1st.
Thanks for reading, you can find me on Twitter @jacko_cfc
Carl Jackson
arsenal remains the best