All quiet on the transfer front
NEW RECRUITS WERE CONSIDERED BY TUCHEL TO FILL ROLES OF INJURED STARS
CHELSEA were never going to be busy in the January transfer window – Thomas Tuchel did not need nor want the club to be.
The only area that was in need of attention was left wing-back and there was a clear candidate in the mind of the German to fill the void left by Ben Chilwell.
“We are evaluating it and we are looking into this position and yes, bringing back Emerson is one of the options,” the Chelsea head coach said at the beginning of January. “We are in talks with the staff and the board and the scouting department, checking possibilities.
“We always do, but given the longterm injuries we are looking into the market and the possibilities. But things have to make sense in terms of the person, the position and of course the quality.”
Tuchel felt Emerson was the best option for several reasons – he had worked with the Italian international last season; he admired the defender’s professionalism; there would be no adaptation period; and Emerson understood the German coach’s tactical structure.
The problem was Chelsea failed to include a recall clause in the loan deal that Emerson agreed with Lyon in the summer. So the Blues suffered the ignominy of offering compensation to the Ligue 1 side of around £3 million for the 27-year-old.
Unfortunately for Chelsea, Lyon refused to budge. Emerson is the club’s first-choice left-back and has impressed this season. There was little incentive for the club to let him leave, especially after they agreed a £35m deal for Bruno Guimaraes to join Newcastle United.
The moment the Blues ended their attempt to reclaim Emerson was the point at which the club’s January transfer window was effectively over.
There were other options Chelsea could have turned to – Barcelona’s Sergino Dest was considered but there was no hard push made for a signing at left wing-back.
So Marcos Alonso will hold down the role for the remainder of the season. Although when Tuchel switches to a back four, Malang Sarr may continue to get the nod at left-back ahead of the Spaniard.
Kenedy, recalled from a loan spell at Flamengo, has also been reincorporated into the first-team fold and is an option the Chelsea head coach may turn to at some stage in the coming weeks.
Tuchel did admit midway through January that reinforcements at right wing-back may be considered with Reece James ruled out through injury. Again Dest was an option given his versatility, but the Chelsea academy graduate has made a faster-than-expected recovery and is likely to return to the squad in time for the Club World Cup.
The final few days of Chelsea’s transfer window were dominated by speculation that the Blues could make a late attempt to sign Ousmane Dembele from Barcelona.
Tuchel is a huge fan of the France international who he worked with at Borussia Dortmund and admitted he was perplexed by the situation – frozen out with just six months left on his contract – Dembele finds himself at the Camp Nou.
“He’s a very good player and I am very fortunate to have trained him in my time at Dortmund. It was only one year, it should have been longer, but I needed to leave and he decided to leave,” Tuchel said prior to the current international break.
“We are not in close contact, we have met here and there because of his duties for the French national team when I was in Paris. We exchanged some messages. I have absolutely no idea why he is in this situation, I don’t know the details, so it’s better not to talk.”
It’s understood Chelsea have been closely monitoring Dembele’s situation at Barcelona but did not launch a bid to sign the 24-year-old in the final hours of the transfer window. A move for the Frenchman in the summer when he is a free agent should not be ruled out, although that is likely to be predicated on one or two attackers leaving Stamford Bridge.
It sounds somewhat trite, but the hard work starts now for Chelsea with the window closed.
This summer is likely to be a hugely important one for the club given the uncertainty around the futures of several players. So careful thought has to be given as to what steps are taken.