Incompetence. Chelsea board incompetence. That’s what some Chelsea fans would have you believe has been the story of the summer to date.
Ultimately, as we ought to have learnt by now, Chelsea fans on social media show little interest in the truth or reality – drama sells, drama gets you retweets.
I have no issue with that, I myself have been party to an old-school Chelsea Twitter meltdown, my gripe is the way in which the accusations of incompetence are being framed.
Have you ever seen a more juxtaposing tweet than this?
Sign Erling Haaland @ChelseaFC and we will completely forgive the incompetence you’ve showed in this window so far.
— Mod (@CFCMod_)
The incompetent Chelsea board, fresh from seeing a squad which they built win the biggest prize on offer in club football, decide to pursue the most coveted footballer on the planet.
Manchester City, Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid and finally Chelsea, that’s who The Athletic listed as potential suitors for Erling Haaland back in April of this year.
A transfer battle like few we have seen before, with Europe’s elite tussling for position in hope of signing the striker mooted as a potential Lionel Messi/Cristiano Ronaldo heir.
Fast forward three months – who’s still standing?
Chelsea.
MORE: Why Dortmund chief’s words on Erling Haaland is actually good news for Chelsea
Photo by Alexandre Simoes via Getty Images
“Chelsea are interested in signing the £150m-rated Erling Haaland,” was the line used by Sky Sports merely a week ago.
It’s not news, is it? It’s perhaps the worst kept secret in the sport at current.
News outlets’ habitual re-hashing of the same information relating to Chelsea and Haaland doesn’t make it any less true, though.
Marina Granovskaia, Bruce Buck, Petr Cech, Roman Abramovich – they’ll all be involved in the operation to bring a once in a generation player to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are in dire need of a new centre-forward, but the club clearly have no intention to cut corners, and why would they? Thomas Tuchel’s current options are superior to any second-rate contingency player.
It’s why I cannot stand reading Chelsea fans bemoan the lack of ‘signings,’ for we could easily pursue an easy win, but complaints about their inadequacy would inevitably follow.
The reality is that if Chelsea are to go for the crème de la crème on the market, which we appear to be doing so, a certain degree of patience is required.
The man who oversaw a Champions League victory a matter of months after taking the reins isn’t breaking a sweat, so why should the fans?
This line in the Thomas Tuchel interview is interesting..
“Of course, there are some phone calls and messages with Petr and Marina, and also with my assistants. But in a very relaxed way, there is no need for stress and to rush things. I would call it a pretty solid holiday.”
— Adam Newson (@AdamNewson)
Has Manchester United’s success in acquiring Jadon Sancho prompted feelings of jealousy? It shouldn’t.
United have hardly been efficient in their efforts to get Sancho through the door, rather they’ve done so 12 months later than they would have hoped.
Even the most optimistic of Chelsea fan would concede that the club are not blessed with a margin of that nature in our pursuit of Haaland.
If Chelsea are unsuccessful in their attempts to sign him this summer, you’d bet your house on him holding a Real Madrid shirt aloft a year down the line.
© Lars Baron/Bundesliga/Bundesliga Collection via Getty Images
That leaves Marina, Petr, Bruce and Roman with the intricate, difficult, perhaps impossible task of completing one of the most expensive transfers in history, for a player courted by many, dealing with an agent who is notoriously serpentine, from a club who are under no pressure to sell.
Yet, marginally over the halfway point of the transfer window, some Chelsea fans have fast-tracked themselves to the point of branding the club’s board incompetent.
Chelsea’s competitive rivals have completed just TWO major transfers this summer to date: Jadon Sancho to Man United and Ibrahima Konate to Liverpool.
The former has been (at least) a year in the making, with the latter confirmed before the transfer window even began.
Neither are comparable in terms of their complexity to what Chelsea are trying to accomplish.
You can hold Chelsea’s board to your unrealistic expectations, but all it’ll achieve is leaving you looking a fool.
Regardless of whether Haaland is a Chelsea player come the window’s end, I’ll take solace in knowing my club have adopted the on-field spirit of attempting to achieve the unachievable in the transfer market.
If you would like to feature on Talk Chelsea click here.
The post Chelsea fan patience required as club work on Haaland transfer appeared first on Sports News & Articles – Scores, Pictures, Videos - SportsNews8.com.