Despite Chelsea’s recent success on the football, some areas of the first team should be improved. Our 4-2 triumph yesterday served as a clear reminder that, while our offensive prowess is great, our defensive vulnerabilities remain. The goalie position is a major source of concern; there has always been doubt about Robert Sanchez’s talents, and that opinion has not altered. Furthermore, it is obvious that adding stronger players to our defensive team would be useful.
Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana have had promising starts to the season, but their backups, Benoit Badiashile and Axel Disasi, have yet to demonstrate themselves as top-tier possibilities. Given this environment, it’s unsurprising that Chelsea is apparently pursuing more young foreign stars as part of a strategy to build a tough team with elite potential from the start. Fabrizio Romano revealed in his weekly Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside that Chelsea is interested in Benfica’s Tomas Araujo. TransferMarkt values him at €7 million, although any transfer fee would most likely be significantly greater.
However, big changes in January are doubtful. With a packed roster, the club will seek to avoid mid-season problems by disposing many players before considering new additions. By next summer, we expect Enzo Maresca and the sporting directors to have a better awareness of the center-back possibilities open to them. This will allow them to focus their efforts on acquiring the premier talent we require for the future, which might very well include Araujo, who will then have the remainder of the season to develop with Benfica.
