Report: Chelsea moved two players Maresca wanted to keep and are “weaker” after January | OneFootball

The Athletic do a weekly long read call the “Deal Sheet” during the transfer window which gives a broad view of each team and what they’re getting up to. Today they’ve dropped a post-window edition which sums up each team’s successes and failures from January.

Simon Johnson is on duty for the Chelsea edition, and while he tries to spin positive on a window that had a lot more departures than arrival, he can’t help but point out the negatives.

He notes that Chelsea “have lost some of the depth in their squad” through shedding rotation options like Joao Felix, Renato Veiga, Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei, making them “a bit weaker” going forward.

In the case of two of those players – Casadei and Veiga – he confirms that “head coach Enzo Maresca did not want them to leave,” which is not exactly promising. He adds that the Blues “have left themselves a little exposed to injuries.”

The most positive thing he can find to say is that “having Trevoh Chalobah back is a step up at the back from Axel Disasi.” But that just means a mistake made in the summer has been rectified, rather than any actually really positive moves made.

Chelsea gambling on form and fitness for the sake of transfer profit

Renato Veiga smiles in his Juventus unveiling after completing a loan until the end of the season.

The conclusion from Johnson is that “time will tell” how well the window went. If we don’t get any significant injuries between now and the end of the season, and the players who have been loaned out all play well and make profitable transfers in the summer, it will all have been worth it. But what are the chances of all of those things happening at once? It’s a big gamble, probably a bigger one that this piece makes out.