Last season was a strange one for Chelsea fans. The season started with so much optimism. Frank Lampard had done a solid job in his first season following his appointment from Derby in 2019, guiding the team to fourth in the league that season as well as reaching the FA Cup final which they eventually lost to Arsenal.
Over the summer of 2020, they made five major acquisitions in the transfer window – Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Kai Havertz and Edouard Mendy – spending over £200 million in total, the most of any club in that transfer window. It was perhaps no surprise that optimism was high.
Despite a strong start to the season, topping the table in early December, things started to turn sour for Lampard and a run of two wins in eight Premier League matches led to Lampard’s dismissal in late January 2021.
One day later, Thomas Tuchel was unveiled as the new manager and it was from this point that our season really kicked in.
Under Tuchel, we improved at the back, becoming very difficult to beat and despite sitting in ninth when he took over, Tuchel guided the team to fourth place in the Premier League, guaranteeing Champions League football once again, however, more was to come.
Despite starting as underdogs, the Blues triumphed in the season-ending showpiece – the Champions League Final – beating Premier League Champions Manchester City one-nil to lift the trophy for the second time in our history.
All of this is just a backstory. Setting the scene for the season ahead when surely optimism around The Bridge has never been so high.
The favourites for the Premier League 2021-22
For the first time in a while, Chelsea are the second-favourites to win the Premier League this season. Betway Sports has them at 6.00 to win the league this season, behind defending champions Manchester City who are outright favourites with Betway at 1.75.
Following a poor defence of their title last season, Liverpool are also joint-favourites with Betway at 6.00 and Manchester United make up the top four favourites at 10.00.
Of course, a lot will depend on the action in the transfer window between now and the start of the season. With Euro 2020 only just reaching the knock-out phases, there are still a lot of big names in the ‘shop window’ during the remainder of the tournament and all of the top teams in the PL will be looking to add depth to their squad before the window closes and the season kicks off on Friday 13 August.
A lot might also depend on the start. Chelsea have been handed a tough set of opening fixtures, facing Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City in their first six games of the season. Manchester United and Liverpool, on the flip side, have been handed relatively ‘easy’ opening fixtures on paper and that could open up an early gap at the top if results go the way many would predict.
Transfer talk – the ‘big six’
If the Blues are to retain their position as second-favourites and really push Manchester City all the way next season, you feel there are a number of things that need to happen (or not happen in the case of City).
For Chelsea, signing an out and out goalscorer must be a priority. Despite some promising signs from Timo Werner towards the end of a disappointing first campaign, you still feel like we need some added firepower upfront – a 30 goals-a-season striker.
We have already been linked with a few of Europe’s best during the early part of the transfer window including a return for Romelu Lukaku and an audacious attempt to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.
Realistically, I am not sure that either of those transfers is going to happen, certainly not this year. Lukaku looks well settled in Milan and off the back of a title-winning season, it’s hard to see him leaving any time soon.
Haaland is an interesting one. There is no doubt he has aspirations to play in the PL one day and I have no doubt that Chelsea will be one of the few clubs that can afford to compete for his signature. I just feel like he has at least one more season at Dortmund in him before he makes the move.
That leaves us with a dilemma. Do we wait and hope we can get him next summer or so we gamble on a ‘Plan B’ signing this summer. Gerard Moreno has been touted as that ‘Plan B’ and his stats from last season make for very promising reading. 30 goals and 11 assists across all competitions in a pretty competitive La Liga suggest he has the talent to succeed. A Europa League winners medal also shows he is capable of performing on the biggest stage.
Another element to consider is the Chelsea factor when it comes to signing world-class strikers. Our track record is not the best. Not since Drogba have we had a striker capable of consistently delivering and we have in fact seen a host of world-class strikers come and go without ever delivering including Fernando Torres, Andrei Shevchenko and Alvaro Morata whilst the jury is still out on Werner and compatriot Kai Havertz.
The Kane factor
One striker that is never linked with Chelsea is Harry Kane. The Spurs striker seems highly unlikely to move anywhere else in London given his allegiance to Spurs, however, worryingly all the talk this transfer window is of Kane joining reigning champions Manchester City. Despite the loss of Sergio Aguero to Barcelona, you feel like the signing of Kane would shorten City’s odds further still and leave the rest scrapping out for second place next season so we are all hoping Levy maintains his usual strong stance when it comes to letting star players leave and that Spurs can hang onto Kane for at least one more season.
Best of the rest
It looks like the usual suspects will be scrapping it out with Chelsea and City for the title this season. Expect Liverpool to bounce back stronger and if they can keep their centre backs fit, it’s hard to see them having another poor season. We shouldn’t forget that they ended up finishing above Chelsea last season and it was a season that was considered a massive flop. If they add to their squad and welcome back Van Dijk to their lineup, they could once again be a title contender.
You also have to feel like United will also strengthen and if they can sort out their defence, they should also be a lot stronger. The inevitable signing of Jadon Sancho will add some depth and a striker like Cavani will be licking his chops at the thought of the service Sancho has been delivering for Dortmund over the past two seasons.
Leicester will also be in the mix again and are more than capable of upsetting any of the traditional ‘big six’ on their day. Leicester have spent more time in the top four than Chelsea in the last couple of year but have twice fallen short of Champions League qualification. Don’t rule them out for another strong season this year.
Beyond that, it’s hard to see West Ham maintaining their form from last season and both Spurs and Arsenal have a lot of work to do if they want to put themselves back in the top-four mix again.
The transfer window could still have a big say in who ends up winning the Premier League title in 2021-22, however, I think Blues fans can justify their optimism heading into the new season. Only time will tell if Tuchel can carry on his excellent start and bring home the title for the first time since 2017.
go chelsea!!
Diego Costa was a pretty useful striker and if we actually play to Werner’s strengths and get him behind the defence he’ll come good. Selling Werner would see us make the same mistake as we did with De Bruyne, Salah and Lukaku.