Since the arrival of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich at Chelsea in 2003, and chief executive Peter Kenyon in 2004, I've long been sceptical about the club's ambitious desire to become a commercial power house and a global brand around the world.
In this ruthless quest to become the greatest club on the map will their big spending, sacking of capable managers, disregard for the academy and eagerness for instant success see them fall from grace before they have reached the pinnacle of footballing success that they crave so dearly?
No doubt their long term ambition is to become the equivalent of clubs like Manchester United and Real Madrid—with global recognition, a large fan base, a star studded squad, commercial success and financial viability coming along with success on the pitch.
That's why the players, staff, and fans at Stamford Bridge consistently set the standard so high each season.
But what Sir Alex achieved at United took the best part of a decade. Somehow, the Chelsea contingent believe it's possible to eclipse or even come close to that achievement—even with little regard for the development of the youth system, and how financially feasible their excessive spending is for the club as a business in the long run.
Since 2003 Chelsea's spending has exceeded £353.3 million on new players alone, and they have won only six domestic trophies. Is that money well spent?
As with every club, managers misjudge how players can fit into the team. But with Chelsea the transition to the team they are today has encountered an extensive list of expensive errors.
9 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Anthony Sanchez 10 months ago
2 copies on there mate.Your right it will take 15/20 years for Chelsea to be viable.Thats if they keep winning trophies.Thats how long it'll take build a global fanbase and turn them into a real brand.Has abromovich got the patience for that? I heard Chelsea lose 80m a year and that he can ask to be repaid a 600m from the club with 2 weeks notice.He can make them or break them time will tell.
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Salomon Gonzales 10 months ago
Well i guess you have a point there. I agree i with Anthony that Roman will either make us or break us. Lets hope its the former. By the way, Damien Duff is hardly considered a failure. If you do a little research on his departure you'll find that Jose was harshly critisised for letting him go....
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Rowanne Westhenry 10 months ago
The youth system is valued, hence us poaching Arnesen from Spurs.
I'm still not sure about this billionaires backing malarky. Sure, I love the winning and the excitement of the biggest competitions, but I do sometimes feel nostalgic for the days when there weren't quite so many people anticipating our downfall with a joyful glee.
I don't think Abramovich has any real grasp on what it takes to turn round a club's fortunes on a lasting basis. Injecting cash is not always the answer, in fact it rarely is, and he seems very focused on building teams from big names, not necessarily promising talents.
I do worry for the future, but at least I don't have to worry that we'll have to sell Stamford Bridge and move in with the Cottagers down the road any more.
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Alan McGuinness 10 months ago
No way was Duff a failure at Chelsea. Him and Robben were key in our 04/05 title winning season, and eventually he left because he wanted more regular football.
And we havent disregarded our academy. Abramovich has invested hugely in it and the youth team's new facilities will be open next month. Our youth team got to the final of the FA Youth Cup last year, which is evidence enough that Roman's investment is starting to bare fruit.
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Andrew Kearney 10 months ago
Though I agree with you on many aspects on here, there are some points which should be addressed.
In particular with regard to youth. To say Chelsea do not invest in their youth is simply not true. The youth team made it to th youth cup final last year for the first time in 42 years and Chelsea have built the most advanced youth football academy in the country. I think there will be some big players coming out of the academy in the next few years, Gael Kakuta is a name I would particularly look out for.
And Duff was certainly not a flop. Most Chelsea fans were gutted when he left. Crespo is an unfortunate case, as it was factors outside of football that led to him not being the success he might have been. But in the two seasons he did play, he had a lot of success for Chelsea, scoring some outstanding goals. Mutu done it to himself but we've got 13 million back from him, so not all bad news.
The big spending will slow down. This summer Chelsea have spent 24 million, made back 10. Last summer they spent 16 million and made 26. There won't be any more summers with Chelsea spending over 100 million. Abramovich would have known he was going to need to spend big and that it would take a number of years before he saw a profit. But slowly, he is getting there. The losses are being reduced year on year and only Manchester United had a higher turnover last year.
But Kenyon's dream of being the biggest club in the world by 2014 are exactly that, a dream.
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jitin nair 10 months ago
ehmmmmm. i think u got ur facts wrong .. the majority of bulk investment went into training and youth facility.. and removal of managers.. giving chance to the youth played a part in their departures thats the reason we have selected scolari who is not just a good manager but also a very good coach .. he has given the likes of kaka, ronaldinho, robinho(may join us soon) the platform made them who they are today.. so just chill in few years we ll get a good bunch of players from our youth system.. and abt abramovich he had aplan to spend big for 5 or 6 yrs i guess.. and now he is very selective (eg: robunho transfer) and tries to negotiate for a good prise.. in 10 yrs we ll be in good shape coupled with the departure of fergie, possibly wenger too.. we are in a very god shape....i think it should be manu who ahould be thinkin abt their future more than chelsea because we ll have abramovich who ll surely bring the best players and caches to chelsea.. by the way the dept we have is intrest free and must be returned to abramovich .. while manu have a dept of abt 400mil to be given to a private bank with interest...
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Anthony Sanchez 10 months ago
400 m debt at united.60m of which they paid off last year.Bought players and still turned a profit.Debt is not a problem when you have the means to pay it off.
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Olly Lewin 10 months ago
Hi. To settle an argument I have with my brother-in-law every weekend, does anyone know how much the 'big four' have spent in the past 5 years?
I am a Saints fan so couldn't really care less who wins what but I'm pretty sure Liverpool's spending must be massive compared to their league successes and think that Chelsea aren't SO far ahead as he likes to think.
Anyway, anyone got the totals I'd be very interested.
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Brandon Evans 10 months ago
Another good read, your dead right about Chelsea although I agree with Salomon about Duff not being a flop. Even though their my team I know we have a few issues our fans should be concerned about.
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