There is reason to feel cynical or downbeat over Chelsea's recruitment over recent years, given the £300m spent on an attack tha...
There is reason to feel cynical or downbeat over Chelsea's recruitment over recent years, given the £300m spent on an attack that is still struggling to click into gear under Thomas Tuchel. The exodus of youngsters last summer looks less like a masterstroke and more a symptom of a much wider problem over squad planning.
But heading into the 2022 summer transfer window, which is set to be much busier than this month, Chelsea can take good inspiration from the past in one market that's proved to be fruitful. Didier Drogba arguably kicked the most important ball in Chelsea history back in 2012, immortalising himself into the club's folklore forever after arriving from Marseille in 2004. Drogba, signed for £34m in the summer of Jose Mourinho's arrival, will forever go down as one of Chelsea's greatest ever singings.
Going on to score 164 goals in 381 appearances across two spells with the club. Contributing to four Premier League titles, one Champions League, four FA Cups and three League Cups. The Ivorian will forever be considered an icon, but gazing beyond Drogba, you see a pattern of amazing deals from France's top tier. Petr Cech was signed from Rennes in the same year as Drogba, an iconic deal that would be replicated 16 years later with Edouard Mendy arriving for £22m from the same club.
Who can forget the small matter of signing Eden Hazard? Acquired from Lille, the summer Drobga departed before going on to spend eight glorious years in west London, becoming one of the most talented players Stamford Bridge has ever seen. The list only gets more impressive – Michael Essien, Florent Malouda, Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Thiago Silva and Kurt Zouma.
Chelsea have been long-linked with central midfielders and the duo of Monaco's Aurelien Tchouameni, who continues to appear one of the club's main priorities in 2022. CareFreeChelsea's editor Scott Clayton reported in July that Petr Cech had held talks with the player's representatives over a potential move in 2021, with The Athletic naming the 21-year-old as one of three main targets next summer alongside Jules Kounde and Declan Rice.
Another name mentioned over recent years from Ligue 1 is Boubacar Kamara from Marseille, the club Chelsea have such great success from. Kamara is a year older than Tchouameni and a brief comparison between both over the past calendar year shows why the two have attracted interest as potential future recruits.
Tchouameni is better in interceptions, defensive duels and recoveries per 90, whilst Kamara excels with accurate passes, passes per 90 and slightly edges out his compatriot in defensive duels won via WyScout . The Monaco man appears the more valuable choice. Kamara and others continue to prove how talented an area Ligue 1 still is for Premier League clubs to capitalise on.
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