Chelsea must branch out more than their transfer targets suggest.
I just want to start out by saying; I’m aware this is all just paper talk. I know to take each and every news report with a pinch of salt as it’s a rarity that a news report, particularly in England, is 100% factually correct. A the end of the day, only Chelsea and Frank Lampard know the players they want and don’t want to sign.
However, there is a clear pattern emerging among the players that Chelsea are being linked with. They seem to favour moves for homegrown players, most of which are young but there are some older England players too.
As examples, in the last few days, Metro have reported they want to sign Ben Foster, Independent have linked them with Ben Chilwell, the Sun say they’re close to signing Lewis Dunk, Talksport claim they want to sign Declan Rice and Caught Offside link the Blues with Nick Pope.
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Now, is there a problem with signing young, homegrown players? Absolutely not. In fact, I would encourage Chelsea to work with players from within their own country, after all it has worked for Frank Lampard this season with the likes of Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham.
However, they mustn’t be too reliant on homegrown talent. As we have seen a common pattern in recent years, is that England players tend to be very underwhelming for the price they typically cost. This is largely due to the heavy media emphasis on them, and for a reason unbeknown to me, the price being extortionate.
If Frank Lampard truly feels that these players will benefit the side, then by all means, he knows more than me. However, the English game is growing and expanding at an exponential rate, so players from overseas are truly beneficial and bring different approaches to the game.
An English core is great, but just look at Tottenham, for example. They had all these spectacular English players who received a tonne of hype, but what have they won? Clue: The answer is absolutely nothing. Chelsea need winners, which is why it’s great to see they’ve signed the likes of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech already.
Which player would you most like to see Chelsea sign?