The Ben Jacobs column was exclusively published at SPTC on Monday 27th August!
Chelsea got a very encouraging 3-0 victory over Luton on Friday. It was an important game for them to win. They were favourites on paper, but that didn’t mean much last season. Chelsea were able to kill off the game and now they have two more winnable games against Wimbledon and Nottingham Forest to build some momentum.
The most encouraging positive from Luton was Raheem Sterling, who got two goals and an assist. Sterling was used in his best position and he can be like a new signing for Chelsea if he gets going.
Reports this summer suggesting that Sterling was surplus to requirements, and Chelsea were open to a sale, were wide of the mark. Chelsea have always been committed to Sterling, and Sterling to Chelsea.
Mauricio Pochettino values Premier League experience. It’s easy to look at the Chelsea project at the moment as just young stars, but proven Premier League quality is obviously going to be key to Chelsea getting back into the Champions League.
Sterling showed flashes of form against Liverpool, was excellent against West Ham and was a man-of-the-match contender against Luton along with Enzo Fernandez.
If Chelsea choose not to move in the market for another traditional forward then Sterling’s goals and assists are going to be very significant. Remember at Manchester City he had six consecutive seasons in double figures for goals.
Sterling spent the summer kind of trying to fall back in love with football. He also changed his diet and had some open conversations with Pochettino about his role. The message is to be more direct and aggressive.
In doing so, Sterling can help alleviate the pressure on Nicolas Jackson. It was important Jackson got his first Chelsea goal against Luton and it was richly deserved. He’s the kind of striker, as he showed in the back end of the LaLiga season with Villarreal, where once he gets one goal many more can follow. He certainly isn’t lacking in confidence.
The key question is whether or not Chelsea will try for another attacker in the final days of the window. I think the failed move for Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise shows the kind of profile Chelsea would prefer. And if Chelsea instead sign a No.9 it pushes Armando Broja down the pecking order.
Brennan Johnson has been another name discussed internally, but Chelsea see his £50m+ price tag as too high. As I’ve said many times, Spurs has always been a more likely destination than Chelsea for Johnson. Lyon’s Bradley Barcola is keen on PSG, so that one is tough to pull off as well.
I know some fans are talking about Jadon Sancho (probably because Joe Shields discovered him and brought him to Manchester City in 2015), but I’m not aware that Chelsea have looked to date. It was Spurs who considered a move earlier in the window. Let’s see whether Chelsea surprise us here or with another name.
Chelsea will still have more outgoings than incomings in a busy final few days of the window. Marc Cucurella is being linked with a loan move to Manchester United, but at the time of writing I am not aware of an offer. Manchester United are considering a new left back because Luke Shaw is out for a number of weeks with a muscle injury.
It is still possible a late offer comes in for Conor Gallagher, even though the midfielder is happy to fight for his place at Chelsea. West Ham and Spurs are two sides to watch.
And Romelu Lukaku is highly likely to leave in the coming hours. Talks with Roma progressed over the weekend. A deal may even be done by the time you read this. As I’ve said many times, Roma’s starting position has been that Lukaku can’t be more expensive than the £7+1.5m price Inter paid to loan him.
It looks like a loan will be agreed for less because Lukaku is prepared to cut his wages which suits all parties. Chelsea will just be glad to resolve the Lukaku situation because it’s clear he doesn’t want to play for Chelsea again.
So strap in, it’s going to be a crazy week and I do expect Chelsea to be working right up until the final seconds of the window!
I love that