Under the ownership of the consortium led by Todd Boehly, not one season has gone by without Chelsea spending at least £243 million. The summer of 2025/26, including the mini window opened for the FIFA Club World Cup, has seen the Blues catapult another £285 million into the market, reeling in ten players in doing so.
It brings Boehly’s total spending since the May 2022 takeover to over £1.4 billion and over 50 players coming to Stamford Bridge in that time. If spending was the aim of the game, Chelsea would be the undisputed Premier League champions. Yet, there are still some gaps that may indicate how title-ready the Blues really are.
An Undefeated Start to the 2025/26 Season
Riding into the Premier League on the high of being the first FIFA Club World Cup winners in its new format, Chelsea immediately hit a wall. Facing the Community Shield winners, the Blues couldn’t unpick the stubborn Crystal Palace defence, but did manage to keep them from scoring.
Even with the loss of the team’s star attacking midfielder, Chelsea came to play against West Ham United. A spot of brilliance put the Hammers 1-0 up at six minutes, but less than ten later, the Blues began their onslaught. Relentlessly testing the home team’s goalie, Chelsea would leave 5-1 winners after a near-perfect showing.
Back at Stamford Bridge for the third game of the season, the 2-0 win over Fulham was dubious, to say the least. A refereeing calamity saw Fulham denied a perfectly fine goal to open the scoring and Chelsea were given a bit much extra time to enable the go-ahead goal at 45+8 minutes. A penalty in the 56th helped to see off the game.
After this relatively small sample size before the international break, Chelsea actually led the Premier League in possession percentage (61.1) and ranked second for shots per game (14.7) and pass percentage (88.1). Still, many still doubt Chelsea’s title credentials even after going undefeated through three games.
Looking at the football betting outrights, it’s clear that the experts behind the odds are yet to be convinced by Chelsea’s performances or their summer business. Out at 8/1 as the fourth-favourites, the Blues are still considered to be trailing Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City.
A lot of this will be down to the perceived strength of those squads, their proven ability to rank highly in the league, and their much more precise approach to the transfer market. So, what is it that these frontrunners have that Chelsea are seen as lacking right now?
What Frailties Do Chelsea Need to Address Next?
On the pitch, for much of last season and at times this season, it’s been clear that Chelsea’s problems mostly lie at the back. Robert Sánchez hasn’t exactly been the most consistently reliable goalkeeper in the league, and he won’t be helped by the lack of a truly elite centre back to command the line.
Before delving into this point, it should be noted that Trevoh Chalobah has arguably been Chelsea’s top performer so far this season. He’s truly coming into his own on the back line. Yet, he’s only 26-years-old with only 230-odd appearances under his belt across his career. He’s not yet that premier defender a title contender needs.
Often alongside him so far has been Tosin Adarabioyo. The 27-year-old is a bit more experienced with over 250 appearances to date, but again, not that elite level of talent and experience needed. Throw in that the team’s go-to centre back is injured and, again, lacking experience, and the overall situation becomes clearer.
You can look to the prestige and talent of Arsenal’s starting duo, the dominance of Virgil van Dijk, or Rúben Dias and John Stones at City to see when Chelsea doesn’t quite measure up. Include some comparisons of Sánchez to David Raya, Alisson, and now Gianluigi Donnarumma, and the problem is clear to see.
This lack of experience and age point is one that runs through the team. The average age of the Chelsea squad right now is just over 23 years old. Raheem Sterling is the elder statesman at 30 years old, followed by Adarabioyo, Marc Cucurella, Axel Disasi, and Sánchez, who are all 27 years old.
You can’t expect consistency over 50 games from almost any player in their early 20s, and the need to rotate this colossal squad will only exacerbate such issues. Signing an established, quality player in their late 20s – so, in their prime and with experience and leadership qualities – for similar prices to the young guns would do a world of good.
As it stands, despite the spending and undefeated start to the season, Chelsea fall short on proven experience, reliable goalkeeping, and at centre back.
