While Todd Boehly can be given a free hit in his first transfer window as Chelsea co-owner and interim sporting director, the American must look to bring in a more permanent senior figure as soon as possible.
Upon arriving at Stamford Bridge, the Boehly-Clearlake Capital consortium made several changes to how the club was being run.
This saw the likes of Bruce Buck, Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech all depart their roles in the boardroom at the club.
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The decision instantly left Chelsea on the back-foot in the transfer market, with Granovskaia in particular sharing strong relationships in the footballing world.
Granovskaia was feared among boardrooms in Europe as one of the toughest negotiators in the footballing world.
With the decision made for her to leave the club, Granovskaia offered to help throughout the transfer window but it has been Boehly and head coach Thomas Tuchel running things for Chelsea.
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The German has the final say in any incomings and outgoings during the window, with freedom of the market as it looked to be a busy first transfer window under the new ownership.
However, things have not gone exactly as planned in the opening months of the window.
While Chelsea were successful in bringing Raheem Sterling to the club from Manchester City, and managed to get their hands on Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, there have also been some failures.
As Boehly has jetted across Europe and hosted dinner parties to network with his peers in world football, some of these new affiliates have taken advantage of the American’s lack of experience in the sport.
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Most notably, Barcelona.
Boehly arranged a meal with those in charge at Barcelona, with the subject matter discussed at dinner not confirmed as the La Liga side hold interest in both Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta.
During this meal, Chelsea were already negotiating personal terms with former Leeds United winger Raphinha.
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However, after a £55 million bid was accepted, Barcelona hijacked the deal as will play his football at the Camp Nou next season.
Furthermore, when Tuchel demanded further central defensive reinforcements, Boehly had negotiated a fee for Jules Kounde of Sevilla.
With it looking like Chelsea had won the race for the 23-year-old, a previous target under Roman Abramovich, Barcelona swooped in once more and looked to have been successful in hijacking another deal.
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With a sporting director, perhaps even Granovskaia who was a huge fan of Kounde’s, at Stamford Bridge, a deal for the French international would likely have been wrapped up before Barcelona could get the finances in place to make a move.
Boehly cannot be blamed for these deals going south, with this his first experience in top-flight football ownership and directorship.
However, the importance of a sporting director has been highlighted in recent days as Arsenal transfer chief Edu opened the curtain behind Raphinha’s Barcelona dream.
“I said to Deco, ‘Deco, can you explain to me the situation with Raphinha?'" Edu explained.
“He was clear, he said ‘Edu, we have a good relationship. I am not going to lie to you. His idea is to go to Barcelona and we have talked to Barcelona since a long time ago.’ Okay, thank you very much.
“I said if something happened, let me know so I can explore the situation but if not no problem.”
Boehly did not have such experience, and instead Chelsea were left waiting for two weeks before the Brazilian eventually got his move to Spain.
In this time, the Blues could have identified and pursued other targets instead of awaiting a response from a player who clearly had his mind made up.
Edu’s experience saw Arsenal give up in their pursuit of Raphinha as they looked elsewhere for reinforcements and built Mikel Arteta a squad which Chelsea head coach Tuchel believes is ahead of his.
Speaking to football.london after a 4-0 defeat to the Gunners in pre-season, the Blues boss said: “We got absolutely beaten by a team that does not play Champions League football next season and finished behind us. But at the moment, they seem far ahead of us."
The naivety of Boehly may have resulted in Chelsea not being prepared for the Premier League season, which starts in just 10 days time.
With just two additions to the squad, and having seen club-record signing Romelu Lukaku depart alongside central defensive duo Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, Tuchel’s squad is arguably weaker than last season.
Therefore, a sporting director is a must for the Blues going forward as Boehly does not have the experience to fulfil this role.
He cannot be blamed for the downfalls of the transfer window so far, but must now look to appoint a director to help work with Tuchel in the window, with the German wanting to focus on the pitch.
Former Liverpool chief Michael Edwards has been linked with the role and fits Boehly’s data-led recruitment strategy going forward while it has been reported that Atletico Madrid’s sporting director Andrea Berta could also be among the options considered.
Paul Mitchell of AS Monaco has also been linked in the past, boasting an impressive C.V.
While it is unlikely that a director will be brought in before the end of the transfer window, for windows going forward the Blues must have a sporting director in place and ready to acquire Tuchel’s targets if Chelsea are to be successful in the future.
Tottenham Hotspur have strengthened with Fabio Paratici and Antonio Conte working together, with Arsenal benefiting from the relationship between Edu and Arteta.
Now it is time to bring in a face that agrees with Tuchel’s philosophy and can work together with the German to bring in signings to help Chelsea compete on the top level once again.
Topics: Chelsea, Todd Boehly, Thomas Tuchel, Football, Transfers, Michael Edwards
Nick Emms