Why Chelsea have ‘flexibility’ to do January deals

Chelsea have “flexibility” to fund transfers in the January window — but the club are not expected to make a huge splash in the market.

There was some surprise when Mauricio Pochettino hinted the club may need to sign more players when the window opens in the New Year after the defeat to Everton.

Chelsea’s spending under the stewardship of Todd Boehly has been well-documented, with more than £1bn spent on players — a significant portion of that on younger players tied to longer contracts that has left the club in a kind of limbo, under pressure to compete for the Premier League and, at the very least, qualify for the Champions League. Results are failing to match those expectations.

However, football finance expert Kieran Maguire explains that the club’s phenomenal record of generating profits from player sales in the past 10 years has left them with some wiggle-room to do deals in January.

“Whilst all the focus is on incomings, Chelsea have been the most successful club in the Premier League when it comes to player sales,” Maguire told i.

“Over the last decade player sale profits — which is the figure used for Financial Fair Play/Profit and Sustainability Rules calculations — were £706m, nearly twice as much as the second most successful Big Six club Liverpool at £387m, and Manchester United have only generated £133m.

“These player sales allow Chelsea some flexibility in terms of potential recruitment in the January window.”

Nonetheless, i understands that Pochettino is not expected to demand new signings when the window opens and January is unlikely to be a frantic period of business.

Plans have already been in place for the upcoming two transfer windows, overseen by sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, and barring further injuries they won’t drastically change.

Chelsea have had a raft of missing stars since Pochettino was appointed head coach in the summer, each of which could be the equivalent to a major signing on return.

Reece James and Ben Chilwell are arguably the most important absentees — both placed in leadership positions by Pochettino on arrival and, as attacking full-backs, two players crucial to his system.

James has struggled with recurring hamstring injuries while Chilwell, who has not played since limping from the field against Brighton in September with a hamstring injury, is still in recovery and unlikely to play this year.

Romeo Lavia, the hugely admired midfield signed from Southampton for £58m, and forward Christopher Nkunku, who joined from RB Leipzig for £52m, were both signed in the summer as first-team players and represent a £110m hole in the starting XI.

Indeed, Nkunku finally made his debut in the dramatic penalty shoot-out victory against Newcastle in the League Cup on Tuesday night that earned Chelsea a place in the semi-finals and represents a real chance at Pochettino delivering silverware in his first season.

Nkunku came on in the final 20 minutes and scored a penalty in the shootout. Nonetheless, Pochettino intends to gradually integrate Nkunku back into the first team to avoid a recurrence of the knee injury.

Lavia has been able to join in some training sessions with his team-mates while he recovers from an ankle injury.

Absent from the win against Sheffield United last weekend were all of the above, plus Robert Sanchez, Pochettino’s first-choice goalkeeper since a a £25m move from Brighton in August, and highly rated Noni Madueke, a £29m signing in the January 2023 window. Madueke has not played for a month, but has returned to full training.

With important players due to return in the coming weeks and months, one well-placed source said that “no major squad surgery is required” in January.

There is an acceptance that in the near six months that Pochettino has been in charge he is yet to have all his key players available to get a feel for his full-strength side. Pochettino has also not used the long injury list as an excuse for the side’s undeniably poor form.

After finishing 12th last season, a campaign in which chairman Boehly sacked Graham Potter not long into a long-term contract, Chelsea are 10th in the table after 17 games, a 12-point gap already between them and the top four.

But they are in the last four of the League Cup and will play Preston at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup next month.

They enter a winnable run of Premier League fixtures over the festive period and well into January: Wolves and Luton away, Crystal Palace and Fulham at home. They face Liverpool on January 31 but have an excellent record against Big six sides under Pochettino, drawing with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester and beating Tottenham.