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Chelsea keep their cool while others lose their heads in fruitless auction
Chelsea's fruitless auction campaign under Steve Talbot ended with frustration and missed opportunities. Despite the player auction being described by Talbot as "distinctly below average when compared to previous seasons and in contrast to the quality coming through at academy level", he entering the auction with a very small but ambitious list of targets.Unfortunately Chelsea's modest bank balance was always going to mean it was going to be a 'puntable balance' with several other large balances in play and the club ultimately failed to secure any signings in both rounds of the auction. However, Talbot’s pragmatic approach suggests Chelsea might benefit in the long run.
Chelsea’s primary focus was on the 3 high profile players Calafiori, Onana and Barnes, but also included the lower level likes of Couto, Estupinan and Neves. Estupiñán, an experienced defender, was a solid option, but Talbot’s hesitation cost Chelsea as he figured the player who could have bolstered their defensive line would surely attract attention from higher balances like Burnley and Atletico, who both could have done with the player especially Burnley. Instead the player went for a bargin £31,000,000 to EFL's Fiorentina as Burnley instead went for glory and the big one with a losing punt on Onana while Atletico lost out with a cheeky low bid on striker Thuram. You can't always predict these things!
Calafiori, a technically gifted passing defender, and Amadou Onana a heavy tackling DM, were considered but ultimately left unpursued due to the threat of the big balances. Both went for above Chelsea's total balance, although Man Utd obtained another auction bargin paying only £80,000,000 for such a world class defender Talbot had predicted that Man City with their ageing defence would be the most likely for Calafiori, but instead Nick Lovell went for Onana with what rumour on the street was saying was a very last minute change of mind, that was pivotal in many ways. But Man Utd yet again walked away with an elite player at a very good price. Does the man never miss at auction?! We urge Steve Outten to stick on some lotto numbers or to enter the post code lottery, because he's on a roll right now! Incredible pickup. Not jealous at all!
The move for João Neves captured the most attention. Talbot identified Neves as a late tertiary option, believing the player was attainable with most other bigger balances likely to avoid him. His secondary targets of Estupinan and Couto was deemed too risky for Chelsea's small side balance.
Chelsea tabled a bold £53.1 million bid on Neves, only to be outmatched by Norwich City’s astonishingly and somewhat pricey £80.6 million offer. This sent Neves to lower tier football in East Anglia, a move Talbot described as "a shame for the player." Norwich’s somewhat ego driven bid has left them with a player whose wages will now consume a significant percentage of their budget. Additionally, league regulations mean Neves cannot be sold for a full year, even until after next seasons transfer bonanaza, locking him into a sub standard second tier environment with lower abs on offer at game time. Over this time, the player’s value will likely depreciate, making Norwich’s extravagant spending appear even riskier in hindsight.
While Norwich celebrated their acquisition of Neves, Talbot remained indifferent. "A move for Neves would have unbalanced the team anyway, so we weren't too fussed" he noted, suggesting the player’s hefty price tag was something he would not and could not have matched. However, Talbot admitted big regret over not prioritising Estupiñán or Couto, both of whom could have addressed key areas of need without destabilising the squad.
As the auction progressed into Round 2, the pool of available talent thinned significantly, indeed not very much was on offer at all in round 2, slim pickings indeed from an already poor auction level, round 2 was now diabolical. Talbot’s interest was only piqued by Engles and Ben Seghir, two 19 year-old players rated at 19. However, recent academy graduates, 17 year-olds rated at mid 18's, made these options seem much less appealing. With academy prospects available for just £12 million, Chelsea was reluctant to pay inflated prices for auctioned players.
One speculative bid of £50.2 million for Engles was outmatched by Lazio, who stunned the market with a £78.5 million bid! Talbot, ever the pragmatist, walked away, viewing the overpayment as unsustainable, but sometimes you just need to overpay to get your man, but Talbot did not want the man, Engles, that badly!
Despite failing to land a single player, Chelsea retains a healthy balance of £73 million. With other clubs having spent heavily, Talbot believes the Spice Boys are well positioned for the mid season auction. "Sometimes patience is the best strategy," he said. "We’ll strike when the time is right."
Talbot’s restraint in the market demonstrates a manager unwilling to risk the club’s future on sub standard solutions like an overpriced Engles and being somewhat unlucky with which was always a punt sized balanced. While fans may be disappointed by the lack of new signings, the club did already have their 'auction buys' in the pre season with the likes of Leao and Doku arriving at Stamford Bridge from Real Madrid who were both of way higher quality than most on the aucion. Missing out on players like Estupiñán, and Couto may sting for now, but Chelsea’s prudent approach could yet turn out to be the winning formula.
Words: 919
Chelsea's fruitless auction campaign under Steve Talbot ended with frustration and missed opportunities. Despite the player auction being described by Talbot as "distinctly below average when compared to previous seasons and in contrast to the quality coming through at academy level", he entering the auction with a very small but ambitious list of targets.Unfortunately Chelsea's modest bank balance was always going to mean it was going to be a 'puntable balance' with several other large balances in play and the club ultimately failed to secure any signings in both rounds of the auction. However, Talbot’s pragmatic approach suggests Chelsea might benefit in the long run.
Chelsea’s primary focus was on the 3 high profile players Calafiori, Onana and Barnes, but also included the lower level likes of Couto, Estupinan and Neves. Estupiñán, an experienced defender, was a solid option, but Talbot’s hesitation cost Chelsea as he figured the player who could have bolstered their defensive line would surely attract attention from higher balances like Burnley and Atletico, who both could have done with the player especially Burnley. Instead the player went for a bargin £31,000,000 to EFL's Fiorentina as Burnley instead went for glory and the big one with a losing punt on Onana while Atletico lost out with a cheeky low bid on striker Thuram. You can't always predict these things!
Calafiori, a technically gifted passing defender, and Amadou Onana a heavy tackling DM, were considered but ultimately left unpursued due to the threat of the big balances. Both went for above Chelsea's total balance, although Man Utd obtained another auction bargin paying only £80,000,000 for such a world class defender Talbot had predicted that Man City with their ageing defence would be the most likely for Calafiori, but instead Nick Lovell went for Onana with what rumour on the street was saying was a very last minute change of mind, that was pivotal in many ways. But Man Utd yet again walked away with an elite player at a very good price. Does the man never miss at auction?! We urge Steve Outten to stick on some lotto numbers or to enter the post code lottery, because he's on a roll right now! Incredible pickup. Not jealous at all!
The move for João Neves captured the most attention. Talbot identified Neves as a late tertiary option, believing the player was attainable with most other bigger balances likely to avoid him. His secondary targets of Estupinan and Couto was deemed too risky for Chelsea's small side balance.
Chelsea tabled a bold £53.1 million bid on Neves, only to be outmatched by Norwich City’s astonishingly and somewhat pricey £80.6 million offer. This sent Neves to lower tier football in East Anglia, a move Talbot described as "a shame for the player." Norwich’s somewhat ego driven bid has left them with a player whose wages will now consume a significant percentage of their budget. Additionally, league regulations mean Neves cannot be sold for a full year, even until after next seasons transfer bonanaza, locking him into a sub standard second tier environment with lower abs on offer at game time. Over this time, the player’s value will likely depreciate, making Norwich’s extravagant spending appear even riskier in hindsight.
While Norwich celebrated their acquisition of Neves, Talbot remained indifferent. "A move for Neves would have unbalanced the team anyway, so we weren't too fussed" he noted, suggesting the player’s hefty price tag was something he would not and could not have matched. However, Talbot admitted big regret over not prioritising Estupiñán or Couto, both of whom could have addressed key areas of need without destabilising the squad.
As the auction progressed into Round 2, the pool of available talent thinned significantly, indeed not very much was on offer at all in round 2, slim pickings indeed from an already poor auction level, round 2 was now diabolical. Talbot’s interest was only piqued by Engles and Ben Seghir, two 19 year-old players rated at 19. However, recent academy graduates, 17 year-olds rated at mid 18's, made these options seem much less appealing. With academy prospects available for just £12 million, Chelsea was reluctant to pay inflated prices for auctioned players.
One speculative bid of £50.2 million for Engles was outmatched by Lazio, who stunned the market with a £78.5 million bid! Talbot, ever the pragmatist, walked away, viewing the overpayment as unsustainable, but sometimes you just need to overpay to get your man, but Talbot did not want the man, Engles, that badly!
Despite failing to land a single player, Chelsea retains a healthy balance of £73 million. With other clubs having spent heavily, Talbot believes the Spice Boys are well positioned for the mid season auction. "Sometimes patience is the best strategy," he said. "We’ll strike when the time is right."
Talbot’s restraint in the market demonstrates a manager unwilling to risk the club’s future on sub standard solutions like an overpriced Engles and being somewhat unlucky with which was always a punt sized balanced. While fans may be disappointed by the lack of new signings, the club did already have their 'auction buys' in the pre season with the likes of Leao and Doku arriving at Stamford Bridge from Real Madrid who were both of way higher quality than most on the aucion. Missing out on players like Estupiñán, and Couto may sting for now, but Chelsea’s prudent approach could yet turn out to be the winning formula.
Words: 919