For a long time, perhaps the most talked about club in the world when it comes to the transfer market has been Chelsea. That is simply because of the wild volume of transfers they have been involved in since Todd Boehly and his consortium bought the club. The takeover took place in May 2022 and since then the Blues have spent in the region of €1.5bn.
There are many different facts and stats about Chelsea’s spending but one recent one put their five-year net spend at a massive £720m. Manchester United, something of a laughing stock in recent times, especially when it comes to the poor players they have bought for incredible sums, are next on the list having splashed out a cool £590m. Manchester City and Liverpool, the dominant teams of the past five or so campaigns, have spent “just” £309m and £220m respectively, which really illustrates just what extravagant spenders Chelsea have been.
If fans of other teams have enjoyed mocking Man United in recent times, they have done likewise with the Blues. You certainly would not have to scroll for too long on social media to see some sort of joke regarding the size of the Chelsea team bus, with various memes about that and other aspects of their inflated squad size. Eight goalies anyone?
No Messing in Current Window
Chelsea Football Club has agreed a deal to sign teenage forward Estevao Willian from Palmeiras, with the Brazilian to officially join Chelsea next summer. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/SHLVRaD4gi
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) June 22, 2024
Unsurprisingly Boehly and his team have wasted no time in the summer window to bring more players to Stamford Bridge. The most exciting deal is worth up to £28m and whilst it was agreed in June 2024, Brazilian wunderkind Estevao will join this summer. They have also brought in aggressive number nine Liam Delap from Ipswich for around £30m, plus Sporting’s Dario Essugo for about £18.5m (though that transfer was agreed back in March).
Enzo Maresca will also have French youth international Mamadou Sarr in his squad, the central defender joining for around £11m. The activity does not stop there though, with Ecuadorian Kendry Paez also heading to west London (for about £8m) in a deal that was agreed back in 2023 and has now been completed after the player turned 18.
Plenty More to Come
Whilst Maresca and many members of his vast squad may be on the other side of the Atlantic at the Club World Cup, transfer activity seems unlikely to stop. The club’s owners had previously intimated that their rampant spending would ease off but that seems unlikely. Chelsea have been linked with Morgan Rodgers, Brighton’s Joao Pedro, Mohammed Kudus, Jamie Gittens, Mike Maignan, Jarrad Branthwaite, Jorrel Hato and Hugo Ekitike, to name just a few.
How Signings Affect Odds
These days punters can bet on just about anything they want. When it comes to football, betting on transfers and managerial changes is commonplace but more generally, which players a club acquires has a significant impact on their odds to win the various competitions.
Right now Chelsea are priced as 20/1 fifth favourites to win the Premier League in 2025/26. Those odds have lengthened a little due to the outstanding early work title favourites Liverpool have done – or are expected to complete shortly – in the transfer window. However, should the Reds fail to land all of their key targets, things can change quickly.
Moreover, should Chelsea manage to complete deals for just a few of the players mentioned above, especially the more high-profile ones, their odds could quickly drop. That might especially be the case if they were to land someone like Viktor Gyökeres, or another proven, top-class striker. However, what might move the dial even more dramatically would be if the club were to appoint a proven manager as boss, replacing Maresca, who still has much to prove, with someone who has been there and done it all.
Managerial Rumours Too
Of course, much of the chatter is just rumour and speculation and one of the latest rumours shaking the betting market and talked on bettergambling.co.uk is José Mourinho’s potential return at Chelsea in a managerial position. Current stats from bookmakers stake the odds at 9% of that happening, which is way more than anyone would have predicted less than a month ago. The smallest assessment houses that have been given are around 7%, still a very notable percentage. Of course, there are odds that have been activated by rumours on social media, but Mourinho’s pattern has always been outside any easily guessable options.
In the world of football, separating idle online gossip from the truth is not easy and when you throw in social media, things get even more complex. Cameroonian midfielder Geremi, who played for the Blues (as well as Real Madrid and many other teams), recently stated that “the fans would love to have him [Mourinho] back for a third spell” and that in his opinion “he’d love to come back”.
In reality we think José back to Chelsea is not a “transfer” we are likely to see, simply because the Portuguese manager’s stock has fallen so far since his glory days with Porto, the Blues, Real and Inter. Moreover, it was Mourinho’s relationship with former owner Roman Abramovich that was crucial to his return the second time around. Boehly and co are a very different proposition, so we think Blues supporters would be best focussing on players this transfer window and let the current boss get on with his job.