Chelsea’s transfer strategy has been hit and miss in recent years, and they could be set to make another blunder
Let’s be honest – if you’re looking for a side that make sensible decisions in the transfer market, Chelsea aren’t the team that spring to mind. Since BlueCo took over three years ago, they’ve bought and sold in freewheeling fashion, breaking spending records and often bringing players in that fail to live up to their lofty price tags. In short, they’ve made plenty of mistakes.
Which makes you wonder whether they might be making another with the news that they’re expected to sell goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović to Premier League rivals Bournemouth for a fee which could rise as high as £25m. Given the way that the Serbian stopper performed last year, it certainly seems like an interesting decision.
When Petrović was given a chance to be Chelsea’s number one in the 2023/24 season, he failed to take it. Clearly, the Blues are in no mood to provide second chances despite the lack of certainty around the number one jersey – but should they have held on to Petrović, or is it Bournemouth who are taking a gamble?
Why Djordje Petrović deserved a second chance with Chelsea
Chelsea’s defence of their apparent decision to sell Petrović, pending all the usual haggling over price and personal terms, will likely boil down to his poor performances across 22 league starts in the 2023/24 campaign. It’s not an unreasonable defence at all.
Over the course of his brief and ill-starred spell as Chelsea’s temporary number one, Petrović allowed 6.7 goals past him more than he ‘should’ have according to expected goals, managed a disappointing 65.7% save percentage and wasn’t especially impressive against the high ball. He may not have been at Stamford Bridge for long since his move from New England Revolution, but he didn’t give his side many reasons to keep hold of him.
As such, the 25-year-old was shipped off to Chelsea’s sister club RC Strasbourg on loan, out of sight and out of mind – except that he ended up performing quite brilliantly in France, and suddenly looked like the goalkeeper Chelsea had hoped they were signing in the first place.
His save percentage soared to a very healthy 78.9%, the second highest in Ligue 1 behind Lens’ Brice Samba, and instead of conceding more goals than he was expected to, he actually prevented ten more than the shooting chances that fell to opposing players suggested that he should have done.
His stats went up right across the board, the mistakes dried up almost entirely and he looked like a top-level goalkeeper. That’s the player who Bournemouth believe they’re buying – a superb shot-stopper who commands his area and lets little get past him. The Strasbourg version of Petrović is certainly worth a punt at £25m.
From Chelsea’s perspective, of course, their desire to keep spending and spending means that sacrifices must be made to keep the cash flowing, and if they’re getting a fair price for Petrović then he’s more disposable than most of the players they’ll consider selling this summer – or would be if they didn’t have a problem between the sticks.
Robert Sánchez’s propensity for disastrous errors may have exaggerated public perception of how bad he is (he finished the 2024/25 season with the best save percentage in the league) but he hasn’t convinced, especially with the ball at his feet - it often feels like he may as well slip on a pair of oversized clown shoes. Neither does Enzo Maresca seem entirely certain about Filip Jörgensen. Giving Petrović another chance to make his case to take the gloves for good may not have been such a bad idea. They could, at least, have seen how he fared in pre-season before making a judgement.
If ever a player did enough while farmed out on loan to show that he was worth a second chance, it’s Petrović. As it stands, if he is indeed good enough for the Premier League, it’s Bournemouth who will be the beneficiaries.
Will Petrović help Bournemouth to improve next season?
This is, unquestionably, a huge summer for Bournemouth which will have an outsized impact on their immediate future – having lost Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez, with other star players liable to follow, can they continue to look like a team who are headed in the right direction and towards European qualification?
Last season, another unwanted Chelsea goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, held the fort at the very back and largely did a fine job – sufficiently fine to persuade Arsenal to sign him as a back-up to David Raya. With Huijsen and Kerkez gone and Ilya Zabarnyi potentially following, however, the next Bournemouth goalkeeper may have a much tougher task on their hands.
It could be crucial that Petrović proved himself to be very strong in the air last season. The Cherries likely to be more vulnerable to crosses with Kerkez gone and Huijsen’s height no longer available, and Petrović is not only two inches taller than Kepa but also dealt with around 40% more crosses successfully than the Spaniard did last season.
Petrović is also comfortable coming out of his area to sweep up balls over the top, which is essential behind the aggressive high line employed by Andoni Iraola. In short, he seems like a good fit for Bournemouth and their style of play.
The question is whether he can maintain his Strasbourg form back in England, or whether he might revert to the unconvincing performances we saw at Stamford Bridge over a year ago. If it’s the former, Bournemouth will likely have bought very well indeed.
This is a side who, unlike Chelsea, seldom make unwise investments in the transfer market and have found ways to continuously improve their team since earning promotion back to the Premier League. History suggests that Bournemouth are more likely to be in the right than Chelsea.
Of course, perhaps Sánchez or Jörgensen or some other newly-signed goalkeeper plays well enough that it doesn’t matter, and the Blues can point to a profit of over £10m on Petrović as being essential in helping them to sign some other exciting player who improves them elsewhere on the pitch. Maybe this move works out well for both sides involved. But if you were betting on one team to be happier in a year’s time, the smart money seems to be on Bournemouth.
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