From the outside, it looked like Chelsea could not help themselves, as if they were football’s answer to the piggish Mr Creosote being offered a wafer-thin mint in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.
But the view from inside the club was that the addition of Pedro Neto was necessary, not gluttonous. Signed from Wolves for £54million, the 24-year-old Portuguese became the latest in a long line of wingers to arrive since the current ownership took charge in May 2022.
So much noise surrounded their collapsed move for Michael Olise that Chelsea sought to keep negotiations with Wolves and Neto’s representative, Jorge Mendes, under wraps until all was agreed. As rare as that is in this modern age of leakage, they succeeded, limiting the criticism that would have inevitably landed before last month’s big reveal.
Rivals reacted by ridiculing Chelsea for amassing more talent than they know what to do with, Neto being one of 12 wingers to join for an outlay of more than £350m under Clearlake Capital and associates.
Chelsea sources say any accusations of stockpiling are unfair, countering that they are sticking to a long-term script designed to deliver trophies.
Chelsea bolstered their roster of wingers in August by paying Wolves £54m for Pedro Neto
The Blues moved for Neto after Michael Olise chose Bayern Munich over Stamford Bridge
That plan involved a desire for at least two players per position ahead of a potential 78-fixture season as, unlike others, they are embracing next summer’s Club World Cup, even promoting the panned competition in what has been a welcome sight for FIFA, who are under fire from all angles about the amount of football star players are being asked to play.
Neto was signed to compete with Noni Madueke on the right wing. Jadon Sancho joined to tussle with Mykhailo Mudryk on the left. At No 10, there is Cole Palmer or Joao Felix. At No 9, Nicolas Jackson or Christopher Nkunku, with Marc Guiu and Deivid Washington also options.
Several of those are versatile — or ‘Swiss Army knives’ as they are called inside Chelsea — but this is the set-up you would find on the tactical whiteboard in Enzo Maresca’s Cobham office.
A summer review of the injury crisis that plagued their last campaign under former boss Mauricio Pochettino found no smoking gun but, clearly, even 56 games without Europe placed a strain on the young squad.
Minutes had to be managed under Maresca this time around and evidence of that rotation came in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, as Chelsea won 5-0 while making 11 changes for the visit of Barrow, the League Two leaders tortured by a B-team others could only dream of fielding.
That superior showing of squad depth included Neto starting and scoring his first goal since signing, and Mail Sport spoke with the winger in a side room at Stamford Bridge afterwards. He told us he was used to fighting for his place with Portugal, that Maresca had warned him he would not be a guaranteed starter for Chelsea and that the competition at his new club is so intense that ‘no one can sleep’.
‘In Wolverhampton, I was going to play maybe 90 per cent of the games,’ Neto said. ‘Here I have to work even more or maybe I’ll not play because the coach will rotate the players. It makes you play even better because you know you have to work.
‘As the coach has said, “Everyone will not play every game”. So we have to work hard, make for ourselves and continue to do it in every training session and every game. It’s the mentality I hope can take us to the top.’
Neto scored his first goal for Chelsea on Tuesday in a 5-0 win over Barrow in the Carabao Cup
Chelsea also brought in Jadon Sancho from Man United during another busy transfer window
Ex-Dortmund star Sancho is one of many options Chelsea have when it comes to wingers
Agree or disagree with Chelsea’s strategy, those behind it feel this is the best way to bring success back to the club. The ownership are desperate for their first trophy and believe they chose the right candidate in Maresca over Kieran McKenna, Thomas Frank and Roberto De Zerbi. Unlike Pochettino, the 44-year-old Italian has never complained about the average age of his squad — not once, privately or publicly.
Maresca also loves a winger. His preferred style of play involves getting the ball to his widemen and creating one-on-one opportunities for them against opposition full backs.
One criticism of Chelsea’s master plan which will be harder to shake, however, is where the academy squeezes into all this.
Chelsea have found themselves under attack for bringing in new bodies while there is a perfectly good production line at Cobham, Callum Hudson-Odoi one of those previously sold at a £5m snip to Nottingham Forest. That noise was amplified before last week’s 3-0 win at West Ham when Wesley Fofana was preferred at right back to the highly rated Josh Acheampong in the absence of Malo Gusto and Reece James at the London Stadium.
Yet for Chelsea, Barrow on Tuesday was proof they are not disregarding their own, Tyrique George replacing Neto on the right wing and Acheampong coming on for Axel Disasi. It was important for the scholars to see they will not be forgotten, after a challenging summer in which the club’s academy guru Neil Bath departed following 31 years of service.
Further competition will follow for Neto and Co next summer with Raheem Sterling due to return if Arsenal do not try to sign him permanently after his loan spell. Brazilian wonderkid Estevao Willian will also join from Palmeiras for £29m.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca favours a tactical style of play in which wingers play key roles
Since Todd Boehly took control at Chelsea, the club have employed six different managers
Maresca has not yet spoken with the 17-year-old winger, but did speak with all of his other signings over the phone before pen was put to paper, keen to stress the importance of them earning their place in his starting line-up. He was strict, explaining to Sancho: ‘If you don’t work hard, it’s better you don’t come.’
While others may mock Chelsea’s bloated squad as being so full it risks ruining the fine china like Mr Creosote, the club are perfectly happy with the possibilities it is affording them, and they are still hungry for success.
