Well, that’s it for a few months. The English transfer window is closed, and while there may be outgoing moves (the window is still open in places like Portugal, the Netherlands and Turkey), there will be no more additions to Enzo Maresca’s squad until January the 1st at the earliest.
So today’s team news reveals the squad we’ll be rolling with until then, barring any emergencies leading to a player from the bomb squad being reintegrated.
It’s interesting to cast one’s eyes over the team and the bench now. We’ve established this is Maresca’s current first choice XI, with the only questions remaining being how to fit Reece James and Romeo Lavia in to the side once they’re back.
On the bench there’s plenty of quality, but we note no Marc Guiu. The striker started in midweek against Servette and toiled without much reward once again. He’s not even considered useful to have among the subs now, it seems.
Chelsea’s transfer failures make squad hole clear
That really highlights the remaining weakness in this squad – up front. We didn’t manage to secure Victor Osimhen on deadline day, meaning we’re left with no experienced backup to Nicolas Jackson. Presumably Christopher Nkunku is being seen as out striker option on the bench today, but it shows how quickly we could have serious problems if Jackson gets injured.
David Datro Fofana is still kicking around in the bomb squad, although there is some expectation that he will be loaned out at some point. Could we imagine a scenario where we hold on to him just to be safe, considering our lack of options up top?