On the 21st of July I wrote Part 1 on the word from our manager Jose Mourinho that “Chelsea were done” in the transfer market in terms of signings. But as I said in Part 1 I was fully aware that Jose is a self confessed liar and surprise surprise just 4 days later we re-sign Didier Drogba! In part 1 I looked at the players we had signed so logicially in this part I take a look at the players we let go but thanks to Jose being a liar I will review our two other signings first!
Didier Drogba – Ivorian – Signed from Galatasaray on a free transfer:
From someone who’s final kick of the ball for us was the one which won us the Champions League this man needs no introduction or his game broken down at all. Although he is now 36 and nowhere near the Drogba standard we all know and love he is a player who has never relied on his pace only his physicality so that does naturally give him a longer shelf life. I suspect though this deal is purely an end of season tour/getting used to his future role at the club more than the playing side of things. Even so its excellent to have Didier back especially as we lost some big personalities in the dressing room this summer. and to quote an Aston Villa fan I know “anyone writing off a Drogba managed by Jose Mourinho is mental”. Welcome home King!
Loic Remy – French – Signed from QPR for 8.5million:
As the transfer deadline day ticked down and everyone’s date night with Jim White was coming closer it become evident that we needed another striker especially as rumours of Torres leaving were swirling around. We were linked with AS Roma’s Mattia Destro but he would have cost us in the region of 20million which would be far too much for a 2nd/3rd choice striker. So when Loic Remy’s name entered the frame you would have thought I would have been happy but I had reservations. Yes he is Premier League proven, peak age (27) and very cheap but I didn’t feel confident signing a player who has failed 4 medicals in his career allegedly one this summer with Liverpool! But then I saw Jose talking about this deal after the 6-3 win against Everton and he said “there is no problem with him” and that quote coincided with the truth that Liverpool actually turned down the chance to sign him as Balotelli became available. With everything considered this is a very low risk deal and a very good one at that, good luck displacing Costa though.
Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Samuel Eto’o – Released:
If I wanted to say what i really think about Lampard and Cole then this could end up becoming a 300 page dossier like the ones Fifa have on the offside rule so I won’t. All I will say is that financially and age wise it was the right time to let these 3 players leave the club. Going by some sources with these three’s wages together it was costing the club around 1.5million per month and with all 3 not being guaranteed a first team place anymore it was logical to let them go. One leaves as the best player to ever play for this club (in my opinion), one leaves as a Chelsea legend and the other leaves as someone who could have been a cult hero if he didn’t keep regurgitating his age feud with Mourinho!
David Luiz – Brazilian – Sold to PSG for 42million:
Another fans favourite along with the other departed Juan Mata but mainly for his playing style, character and mop on his head. But this deal for me is possibly the best piece of business Chelsea have ever done as there is no way Luiz is worth this sort of money. I know many were annoyed with his departure but I looked at it one way, in the 3 and a half years Luiz has been a Chelsea player he has not improved at all, good luck in Paris David thanks for the memories.
Romelu Lukaku – Belgium – Sold to Everton for 32million:
I’ll try and make this one short and sweet, yes he has the potential to be one of the best around but his attitude was poor. He may have caused problems within the squad if he wasn’t playing on a regular basis liked he wanted so Jose was taking no chances. 32million for a player who has done nothing for us so we can’t miss anything is exceptional business from the club.
Demba Ba – Senegalese – Sold to Besikas for 5million:
Never a first team regular during his time with us and it was the right time for him to move on. Never complained and left with some brilliant memories. His debut brace vs Southampton, his winner vs PSG and the most memorable goal at Anfield in front of the Kop thanks to the Gerrard slip!
Patrick van Aanholt – Dutch – Sold to Sunderland for 1.5million:
The club had two potential Ashley Cole replacements for years in the form of Patrick Van Aanholt and Ryan Bertrand and during that time I was fully in the Bertrand corner. That was up until last season where I saw quite a bit of Van Aanholt at Vitesse, he scored and assisted in a lot of goals and his defensive side improved massively too and I believed he was a shoe in to be back-up to Filipe Luis this season. I think Sunderland have got themselves a coup with this transfer and I fully expect him to be playing at a much higher level in the not too distant future.
Fernando Torres – Spanish – 2 year loan to AC Milan:
Although I am focusing on permanent transfers I just couldn’t leave this one out because he will probably never play for us again. If there is one thing I despise its the personal slating and/or booing of our own players, for me this contradicts the word “supporter”. But Torres suffered a lot of this but you have to question whether any of it is his fault? We signed a man who had suffered many muscular injuries in the previous 12 months and we never had the time to undertake a medical before he signed the contract – remember the contract we offered him so him earning a reported 170k a week why would he say no? I am hugely disappointed things never turned out differently for Torres and Chelsea but I don’t dislike him not in the slightest, he gave us some good memories and did try his hardest but unfortunately his hardest was not very good anymore.
I have to commend Jose Mourinho, Bruce Buck, Michael Emenalo, Roman Abramovich and all the scouting staff for what I believe was the best transfer window Chelsea have ever been involved in! We addressed the problems we had in all areas last season and managed to sell surplus to requirement players for well over their actual values. When Jose came back last summer I always believed this season would be the one for us and now we are finally here I will see this season as a failure if we don’t win the Premier League title.
Thanks for reading – you can engage with me on Twitter @jacko_cfc
