Chelsea must be careful about planned summer overhaul

Chelsea need only look to city rivals Tottenham as a cautionary tale on what a massive spending spree can do to a squad negatively.  Despite Spurs being 6th in the table , there is still a chance Manchester United can overtake them and that is hardly an ideal situation for a club that spend over 100million pounds in the summer on recruits.

The good news for Chelsea supporters, is that Jose Mourinho undoubtedly possesses a better eye for evaluating talent than Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who many believe was responsible for the majority of players that came to White Hart Lane in the summer.  Blues owner Roman Abrahmovic will want many big name players to come in after the clear out is complete, but questions do remain if whether Mourinho will be successful.

Despite his managerial pedigree and his success in every league he has ever managed in, Mourinho spent large amounts of money at Real Madrid but fell far short of the  mark that such signings should have easily eclipsed.  Priority for the Blues in the summer must be a striker and it is more than likely that Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o will all be sold.  Will Mourinho keep Lukaku or will he sell him on will be the first question to be answered, and should he sell him, will he do what it takes to bring Diego Costa to Stamford Bridge?

Overhaul of Chelsea’s back-line has also been debated, with the potential need of a proper replacement for John Terry and Ashley Cole a huge possibility.  Questions over the future of Petr Cech also will surface, as Thibaut Courtois has shown over the last two season’s why he has propelled himself into the debate who is the best keeper in the world and because he is still on Chelsea’s books, they at least can very easily decide to keep him on rather than loaning him out yet again.

Chelsea are not short of attacking options by any means and their midfield remains solid, but with Frank Lampard not getting any younger and with rumors that David Luiz, Ramires, John Obi Mikel and others being part of the clear out, Mourinho will have to do well to bring in the right midfield players to London to fit into the system he hopes to continue to establish.

Finally, the public displeasure of Eden Hazard will raise eyebrows and the response from Mourinho will only add fuel to that fire, as the Portuguese manager has called Hazard out saying he is not mentally ready to play for Chelsea, while calling his work ethic into question.  Will the Belgian starlet be part of the clearout and if so, who would Mourinho fancy to replace him?  Rumors of Mario Gotze’s unhappiness at Bayern have spilled over and Mourinho is sure to be one of the managers interested should he want a move away from Bavaria.

Arsene Wenger said in reference to Spurs’ spending spree in the summer, that bringing in one or two singings in the summer is important, but when you bring in seven or eight you risk the stability of the squad and the harmony of the dressing room.  Unlike many other sports, Football thrives on the cohesiveness in which a team can function and grow, so while Chelsea supporters will be anxious to see what is in store this summer for their beloved club, they must remember that a massive squad overhaul can backfire just as easily as it can be successful.