"American" Chelsea: a hard-hitting blue bridge, a flowing player

Written by Hanbing Chelsea after Xia Boli took over in 2022, the operation of the market is hugely different from traditional European clubs. In the past three years, the Blues have become more like the "hedge fund" that frequently transfers funds and personnel, disguising themselves as football clubs. The topics that new American bosses are concerned about seem to no longer introduce many strong aids, but rather the super high flow of continuous funds and players. For "American Chelsea", it seems that the consideration of the "double high" flow of funds and personnel always takes priority over the players' competitive value assessment.

This season's summer window, Chelsea still maintains a double high in personnel and capital flow: the Blues have signed more than 275 million euros (all units below are euros), second only to Liverpool (309 million). Including Simmons, who is likely to join, the Blues will spend more than 350 million yuan. At the same time, Chelsea's sales revenue exceeded 151 million, ranking first. The first team added 21 new players to send away 13 people, and as many as 34 people were transferred. In addition, the Blues with as many as 38 people in the first team still have 10 players for sale, which means that the number of players will continue to increase.

The Blues are playing hard, the players who are flowing, and of course the same flowing transfer window fund flow, which is the unique label of the American Chelsea market operation.

This summer, Chelsea continued the newly established club style after the acquisition of Boli in 2022. The market operation is still to buy more and sell more, with both high personnel and capital flow. The Blues' first team added 21 new players, of which 8 new players were introduced in the investment.

Currently, the total investment in the Blues' summer window has exceeded 275 million euros, ranking fourth in the team's investment in a single transfer window, second only to the 2022 summer window (301 million), the 2023 winter window (329.5 million) and the 2023 summer window (464 million). If RB Leipzig's midfielder Simmons (75 million + 5 million) joins as he wishes, the Blues' total investment in the summer window this year will exceed 350 million, ranking second highest in the team's history. If Liverpool cannot sign Isaac as expected, Chelsea will once again maintain its investment title this summer.

At the same time, the Blues have sent away 13 players in this summer window, earning a total of 151.6 million euros from players such as Maduaike (56 million), Felix (30 million), Petrovic (28.9 million), Amuku (14.5 million), Humphreys (14 million), Kepa (5.8 million), etc. Even if Simmons joins, Chelsea's net investment in the summer window has just exceeded 200 million euros. What's more, the Blues' purge has not ended, and there are at least 10 players in the first team for sale. British media expect that if the entire team leaves, these players will also bring more than 100 million euros in revenue to the Blues.

Currently, Chelsea ranks second in the world in both investment and revenue lists this summer window. If the personnel in and out of the future goes smoothly, both lists may top the list. Currently, Chelsea's number of players has transferred to 34 this summer window, basically equivalent to the total number of players transferred to Premier League defending champions and runner-up Liverpool (19 players) and Arsenal (20 players). The summer window has not yet ended, and Chelsea's number of player transfers has ranked first in the Premier League. Given that the player transfer of most Premier League clubs is coming to an end, Chelsea is likely to continue to be the club with the largest number of people transferred to the Premier League just like the summer window of the previous two seasons.

Obviously, after Boli took over, "more in and out" has become their market operation sign.

In the summer window of 2023, Chelsea spent 464 million euros to buy people, setting a world record for the investment amount of a single transfer window club; at the same time, the profit of selling people was as high as 275 million euros. The Blues' first team added 19 new players and sent away 27 people, and the number of players transferred (46 people) ranked first in the Premier League. The number of players in the Blues family is close to the combined Premier League defending champions and runner-up Manchester City (24 players) and Arsenal (25 players).

Although Chelsea's purchase cost dropped sharply in the summer window of 2024, it still reached 267 million euros, and the sales revenue was 208 million yuan. The investment and revenue amount in the summer window ranked first in the world for the second time. The Blues' first team added 22 new players and sent away 24 people, and the number of players transferred (46 people) also ranked first in the Premier League. The number of players in the Blues is 11 more than the combined Premier League defending Premier League champions and runner-up Manchester City (16 players) and Arsenal (19 players).

Chelsea in the Abu era also had a transfer window "more in and out", but it often happened based on the verbal change of teams, not the norm of every season.

Bolly's summer window in 2021 before the acquisition of the Blues, Chelsea spent 113 million euros to set a record for the team's history to sign Lukaku. That year, Chelsea's first team added 15 new players and let 22 players go, and the number of players transferred reached 37. At the peak of the summer window of 2017, they bought 207 million yuan and sold 131 million euros. The first team added 21 new players and let 24 players go, and the number of players transferred 45 people, but it did not reach the highest number in the Boli era.

In the summer of 2022, American boss Boli and North America Chenghu Fund acquired Chelsea. The first transfer window established a "new style" with high capital investment and huge player transfers. The Blues' investment in recruitment reached 301 million euros, setting a record for Chelsea's history and the investment in the single transfer window of the Premier League. In addition, the first team in the American-style summer window added 13 new players and let 19 people go, which showed signs of a large number of personnel transfers.

When other Premier League giants are still operating in the traditional market, Chelsea has completed a "new style" similar to American professional sports with high funds and player circulation through four seasons of summer window. Chelsea is an American professional sports player trading operation model, a comprehensive replication in the football field.