There are few things more galling than watching people waste money, and there’s no denying Chelsea have frittered away a mildly offensive amount of cash in the past two years. It has felt dirty and heartless and bare-facedly moronic, ruthless to a fault and at times disrespectful to the fabric of sport. All the great disruptors disrupted was themselves.
It’s hard to quantify the damage Todd Boehly’s stint as self-appointed interim sporting director had on Chelsea’s image. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling may no longer be with us, but their memory perpetuates the overarching idea of a club run by footballing magpies constructing the world’s most ornate yet structurally unsound nest. Read Next Chelsea thrash Gent to show the value of the Conference League It is now 22 months since Boehly relinquished control of transfer business, first replaced by Paul Winstanley in December 2022 before he was joined by Laurence Stewart two months later.
Former Manchester City academy wizard Joe Shields signed up in January 2023. Andrew Cousins joined as head of scouting in July of the same year, while Sam Jewell, part of Brighton’s South American talent mine, followed his former boss Winstanley in May 2024. Somewhere along the way, a genuinely competent recruitment set-up has emerged.
The early signs were there last season in Cole Palmer , Malo Gusto and Nicolas Jackson, yet time and experience is only shining more light on the talent depth at Stamfo.