Filed under: Chelsea, Premier League, Football, Transfer News
A year ago, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich told then-manager Carlo Ancelotti that there would be no big-money transfers and he would have to promote the academy players to the first team in order to fill spaces on the bench.Key men were offloaded from Stamford Bridge in a rare instance of Premier League austerity, as Joe Cole and Michael Ballack were among the players shown the door.
But those with keen memories will recall that policy lasted all of six months, before Fernando Torres, Ramires and David Luiz were brought in as expensive reinforcements.
This summer, despite the lack of manager, things appear to be moving just as quickly at Chelsea - but the Blues are determined not to make the same mistakes as last year. Yes, there will be a procession of players out the door, but crucially there will be more entering the fray.
Nicolas Anelka, who has one year on his Chelsea deal, heads the list of players that the Blues are open to offers for, along with Yuri Zhirkov, Jose Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira and patient goalkeeper Henrique Hilario.
But in contrast to last summer, Chelsea are already on the hunt for replacements - and will continue their drawn-out pursuit of Brazilian striker Neymar, as well as searching for a back-up to first-choice goalkeeper Petr Cech.
The sweeping changes at Chelsea are being instigated by chief executive Ron Gourlay, the man who gave the bad news to Ancelotti at Everton on the last day of the season.
And the fact they are already being linked with players across the continent is as close as we will get to a "we were wrong last year" from the Blues hierarchy. Because they found out last term that as good as their academy is, promise doesn't necessarily translate into instant success when it comes to up-and-coming players.
The only sticking point with Chelsea's flurry of transfer activity - and determination not to repeat the mistakes of last summer - is the fact they do not yet have a manager. And when they do get one, he will have to work with the players that his owner has already bought over the summer.
Which, as we have seen over the years at Chelsea, is a mistake that keeps on repeating.
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