A fractious first half of the season, saw Antonio Conte go on the offensive as he criticised the clubs poor [in his opinion] transfer business. Whether that effected some of those wayward results is unknown, but being told you`re not quite what the doctor ordered could not have made some of the players feel that special.
The January window was at best okay. It has the potential to have been much better, but with Conte`s reluctance to utilise the new signings, we must wait and see.
The first activity of the window, finally saw Diego Costa get his move back to his beloved Atletico Madrid. A transfer embargo meant they were unable to sign him until 1st January. Chelsea collected just under £60m from the Spaniards. Five days later, and the first signing arrived.
Ross Barkley
The Everton player almost signed in the summer, but for some reason the deal was never quite done. Had Barkley arrived back then, he wouldn`t have made into Chelsea`s starting XI as he was suffering from a hamstring injury. When he finally made it to London, he was still carrying that same injury. Marina Granovskaia likes to be careful with Roman`s money these days, so some considered him a bargain at £15m. Everton felt they were somewhat stitched up, believing the delay had caused them to lose money on the deal. As it stands though Barkley`s career has stalled. Having made three appearances, totalling 131 minutes, the old injury has recurred and he back with the physio`s training alone. The midfielder is contracted until the summer of 2023.
Emerson
Emerson Palmieri arrived from Roma. His arrival was delayed as Chelsea tried to negotiate the inclusion of Edin Dzeko in the deal. That never materialised but the Brazilian born, Italian international did, with a day of the window remaining. Like Barkley, he arrived carrying an injury, a ruptured cruciate ligament. Marina snaffled him for £18m though, so that`s okay. Problem is, he`s managed less minutes on the field than Barkley. 128 minutes to be precise. He appears to back fit now, maybe Conte is not seeing anything in him. It was hoped he`s put Marcos Alonso under a bit more pressure in that left wingback position. We`ll have to wait and see. Emerson is contracted until June 2022.
With Emerson arriving Charly Musonda Jr and Kenedy were allowed to go off on loan, securing deals with Celtic FC and Newcastle United respectively. Having failed to get Dzeko, the media had a field day discussing possible strikers Chelsea could sign in their apparent desperation to replace Michy Batshuayi. As the clock ticked down, someone arrived and it wasn’t Peter Crouch.
Olivier Giroud
Signed from Arsenal for just over £15m Giroud looked like a good deal. He had Premier League experience, was good at holding the ball up, but probably most important of all he`d come from a direct rival. Fans like nothing better than to grab a player from a team competing in close competition. As Chelsea supporters, we`ve seen enough leave the club, so it was nice for the boot to on the foot. Of course in true Marina style he arrived off the back of an injury, a hamstring problem. That meant a slow integration into Conte`s side. He has managed more minutes than the other two though, 335 minutes and he`s scored 1 goal. He`s shown positive signs in recent games against Barcelona and Crystal Palace though. His contract runs until the summer of 2019.
Giroud`s arrival saw Batshuayi leave on loan for the rest of the season to Borussia Dortmund. As the media have well documented, he`s done well banging the goals in.
Antonio Conte has not been impressed with the players he`s been given this season and he`s made no bones about making sure those in high places know. That could be his downfall with the club that he brought such vivacity to last season.
There are still games to be played, the FA Cup and fourth place to fight for, before we can start the whole process once again. If this is to be Chelsea`s fallow season, we can look forward to enjoying more fruitful times in the coming year.
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