Graham Potter attests for Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali. Chelsea mission after £300m transfer frenzy
Graham Potter has a plethora of new options to choose from for Chelsea’s match against Fulham as the Blues look to turn their season around and truly launch a new era.
Graham Potter is excited for the next steps of Chelsea following their £300 million transfer window spending. Throughout the month, the Blues acquired Benoit Badiashile, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Noni Madueke, and capped their spending with a Premier League record fee for Enzo Fernandez.
Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly visited Chelsea’s training facility on Thursday, kicking off a busy month for the club’s recruitment staff. This work has received considerable criticism, but it is impossible to overlook its ambition.
The business will also bring some problems. Only three players can be added to Chelsea’s Champions League squad, and one player already at the club will be forced to sit out. There will be a number of disappointed players on matchdays when they are unable to participate.
More new faces have arrived at Stamford Bridge, continuing a period of transition that began with the club’s takeover in the summer. Potter recognizes that his responsibility is to leave the club in a better shape than when he arrived, even if that means overseeing a larger group than anticipated at the present.
He stated, “I think it’s been difficult for everyone because there was change in the summer, there was change prior to that, the club’s 20-year-old ownership has left and a new one has arrived.”
Numerous occurrences have rendered it suboptimal. Let us say so. But if I desired an easy life, I would have remained at my previous jobs. The purpose of this opportunity was to shape, assist, and support a football club undergoing a significant transition. That is the case.
What’s Trending
- Kenya Pipeline Volleyball Team Set for Title Defense in Uganda
- Martha Karua’s NARC-Kenya rebrands to People’s Liberation Party
- Bobi Wine’s Party Reports Police Raid, Claims Spy Devices Installed
- Gachagua: Ruto is in a Gold Business With RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo
- Khalwale Bows to Pressure, Moves to Withdraw Motorcycle Bill
“What we’ve done in this window is exciting, the players that we’ve got are exciting, you can see the direction we’re trying to go in which is building for the future but at the same time quality that can compete now.
“I think it’s, and I’m going to use the word again, it’s exciting times for me. As much as the manual might say something different, things are never perfect and you just have to make the best of it.
“My job is to help the club get better and constantly improve and when you look back on all my time on all my jobs, when I have left the football clubs they have all been in a better place than from when I arrived. That’s essentially the job of a head coach, to help the club, support the club, improve the club and improve the team. And take on the challenge.”
However, Potter does not believe his duty is as simple as receiving players and making them work. He desires to become an integral part of the club’s culture.
He added: “We are a football club and I am a part of that. I am the head coach and my job is to support the team, the recruitment team and everything that goes on to try to make the best decisions. My job is to understand the desire of the club, the ambition of the club, what direction we want to go in. I am delighted with the players we have. It doesn’t come without challenges but I am certainly not going to complain about that because who am I to complain about anything. I have got nothing to complain about.”
The activity is a radical departure from what Potter has previously done. It is impossible to deny that Chelsea’s goals are greater than anything he has previously encountered, and the budget reflects this.
Potter explained, “I’ve spent seven years at Ostersunds, a year at Swansea where we pretty much had to sell everybody and be creative with who we were using, and three and a half years at Brighton; it’s a different model, so you have to take the experiences, the things you learned in that context, and apply them here despite the fact that it is, as you say, totally different. It would be erroneous for me to believe I’m at Brighton or back at Ostersunds; we’re at Chelsea, where the numbers are different and where we’re striving to go is different.”
While the Blues have added players in many positions over the previous four weeks or so, it could be argued that they have not solved their most glaring issue of the season. In 20 Premier League matches, Chelsea have scored just 22 goals, putting pressure on their defense to keep clean sheets.
Kai Havertz has been preferred by Potter to lead the line, whereas Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has struggled to make an impact. It will be hoped that players such as Joao Felix can contribute to the team’s general attacking prowess, but the former Brighton coach believes that everyone can have an effect.
Potter explained: “We have tried to address it in terms of helping the team attack better. You can zoom into one position but in the last four or five years teams have won the Premier League without a recognised centre-forward. I understand the point but it is better for the team to attack better, to play better, to create more chances, to be more dangerous in attack and that will solve that problem.”
