Chelsea's big-spending makes sense! Jamie Gittens & Joao Pedro transfers provide perfect blend of youth and experience to Blues squad which does need more bodies

The eye-rolls which come with every transfer rumour involving Chelsea are, in fairness, warranted. Despite their evolution in three seasons of BlueCo's ownership, there has been a staggering amount of action and turnover in each window since their takeover in 2022. Premier League finishes of 12th, sixth and fourth represents the club's worst three-year stretch since the pre-Abramovich days.

There is, however, necessity for Chelsea to bring in more options in attack. Delap already represents at the very least an equal to Nicolas Jackson, if not an upgrade and potential long-term lock up front, while the Blues allowed Jadon Sancho to return to Manchester United after an underwhelming loan and have lost Mykhailo Mudryk indefinitely after he was charged with doping offences. It is also incredibly likely that they will move on Christopher Nkunku too, despite his heroics at the Club World Cup.

After Mudryk's suspension was extended just under a fortnight ago, head coach Enzo Maresca insisted he would have wanted another touchline winger, in this case Gittens, through the door regardless. "I think even here you see we have [Noni] Madueke and [Pedro] Neto as proper wingers. And then we try to adapt Tyrique [George], the other day he was inside for some minutes. And we try to adapt different players during the season. Christo [Nkunku] or Kieran [Dewsbury-Hall], but for sure it's something quite clear that it's a position that we need to improve."

There was a roughness around the edges to Mudryk's game that could never quite be smoothed out following his mega-money move from Shakhtar Donetsk two-and-a-half years ago. What he did bring, however, was unpredictability and capability to stretch defences the way none of his team-mates could.

The lack of a transition-enacting, pace-setting winger was one of a few reasons why Maresca's Chelsea became easier to nullify in the second half of 2024-25. When a game slowed down, there was no immediate way to speed it back up again. Even if Mudryk had been available, his volatility and inconsistencies as a player meant he was not a reliable option anyway.

Sancho, meanwhile, came in for criticism for his lack of cutting edge, ranking among the bottom five percentile for wingers for shots taken per 90 minutes at just 1.22, while he ranked in the bottom nine percentile for open-play expected goals (via FBRef). He ended the Premier League campaign with three goals and five assists as six of his team-mates, including defender Marc Cucurella, outscored him.

The addition of Gittens, who is able to play quickly into space, slow play down with one-on-one dribbling and gets shots away - he came in the top 18 percentile among wide-men for shots at 2.58 per 90 minutes - should give Chelsea the best of both worlds they had with Mudryk and Sancho.

The previous criticisms of Chelsea's lavish recruitment were that their purchases felt too haphazard and without strategy, while there was also concerns over the age profiles of most of their signings and whether they had overpaid for them. In addition to Delap at £30m ($41m), Pedro at slightly north of £50m ($69m) represents better value for money. Gittens at £55m ($76m) is a bit more of a risk, but still a lot more of a calculated one than some of their previous buys.

Crucially, they head to west London with plenty of minutes under their respective belts already. Pedro already has 216 senior games and three Brazil caps to his name, with Gittens at 107 but having played three seasons of Champions League football already at 20 years of age. Arriving at the club prior to pre-season, and in Pedro's case without having played at the Club World Cup, will also allow them more time for integration prior to the start of 2025-26.

In theory, these two buys should blow hot-and-cold a lot less than some of Chelsea's other new players of old. By the time the schedule becomes packed again, they should be up to speed and ready to meaningfully contribute.

Amid the chaos of the last few years, Chelsea have maintained their standing as a club with an enormous amount of pull. Of course, part of that is down to their vast resources to pay wages comparable to the top teams in Europe, but there are also other key signs to suggest the owners' aim to make Stamford Bridge an attractive home for the most promising of young talent is on track.

Chelsea, to this point, have not been backed into a corner and forced to sell a key player they didn't want to. Their best assets have not even been reliably linked with exits. A squad harmony and unity have replaced the overcrowded and disinterested feel of BlueCo's first season at the wheel.

In Cole Palmer, who has exploded into one of the faces of the Premier League, the Blues have a shining example to sell to targets of the future. The year-on-year progress is also a major plus, even more so when contrasted against the scepticism around the club's strategy.

Midway through his debut season at Chelsea, Maresca batted away doubts over his credentials with a clever analogy: "When you start, you don't have experience. You cannot go to the supermarket and buy experience. So, you need time. But it's not only for me, it's for all of us in different jobs." The Italian was referring to himself and other managers, but the comparison can easily be applied for players too.

Through Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Frank Lampard, Mauricio Pochettino and now Maresca, Chelsea's coaches have sifted through their many new players and established a core group of stars to build around. Palmer is the gravitational pull in the final third, with Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo anchoring the midfield behind him. Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella and, when fit, Reece James have established themselves as leaders in defence. There is hope that Delap either solidifies his place as the centre-forward or helps kick Jackson into another gear.

Pedro's ability to play all across the frontline makes him an ideal candidate to slot in around those central figures, and though Gittens largely played as a left winger for Dortmund, he too is capable of affecting games in various positions. If they want a higher squad status, they'll have to earn it.

Maresca's inability to juggle domestic and European campaigns without completely changing his entire starting XI in 2024-25 is a subplot that has slipped back under the radar after they just about got over the line in the Premier League and Conference League. With a step up back into the Champions League ahead, he will need to find the right balance in his squad, and won't be able to simply rotate en masse to escape the perils of fatigue.

A fear of burnout midway into 2025-26 has already been professed by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, with the Cityzens also competing at this summer's Club World Cup: "I try not to think about it otherwise I would get too anxious. Instead, I try to relax, enjoy the days here and the good vibes that we have, the competition and we try to win it. After this, let's see what happens. Let's see what happens after the final, we can rest and take the time that the Premier League has allowed us to rest and then we will see.

"Maybe in November, December or January it will be a disaster, we are exhausted and the World Cup has destroyed us. I don't know, but it's the first time in our lives that this has happened. Mentally I think in the past the players have played in World Cups or European Championships for their national teams so it happens sometimes. You need a rest mentally sometimes, you can recover and then we will see when we come back."

The difference between returning from an international tournament and the Club World Cup is that usually teams will still have players who had a summer off. In this instance, Pedro and the incomings who follow him to Chelsea will be the only ones who have had ample amount of rest for another year in which they could play upwards of 50 games. The need for Maresca to have more reliable options is indeed pressing. If and when injuries pile up, they can't be trotting out line ups which are significantly weaker than their preferred selection.

All that said, Chelsea still need to commit to more players who are a little more adult if they to accelerate their project. Arsenal and Manchester City's backwards steps last season, allowing Liverpool to come on in and claim the Premier League title instead, proved you never know when your window of opportunity to win will open or close. The Blues have to be ready to take advantage if they are to return to their former glories.

Pedro will arrive with question marks over his attitude having been dropped from the Brighton squad towards the end of his time on the south coast for a training ground discretion, adding to a supposed discipline problem already rife within the Cobham changing room - only Bournemouth picked up more yellow and red cards than Chelsea in the 2024-25 Premier League.

BlueCo may be planning for the future, but that doesn't mean they have to completely overlook the chance to make a splash in the present or buy a little older in an age where stars can play long into their thirties. These are, nevertheless, steps back in the right direction to sustained success.