Matteo Gabbia of AC Milan competes for the ball against Cole Palmer of Chelsea FC
Matteo Gabbia of AC Milan competes for the ball against Cole Palmer of Chelsea FC
Yes, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have got plenty of things wrong since purchasing Chelsea in 2022.
The club’s transfer strategy is a good place to start. This summer, there has been a complete U-turn at Stamford Bridge!
After being hell-bent on only signing young players with potential, Chelsea have acknowledged the need for experience and are now bringing in footballers in their mid-30s after recruiting Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck.
However, if there is one thing that BlueCo have got right, it is not appointing AC Milan boss Ruben Amorim as manager.
Xabi Alonso on Marco Palestra
Credit: Andri Munazir/NurPhoto/Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Chelsea dodged a bullet not hiring Ruben Amorim
Amorim is a young and talented coach, but it did not quite work out for him at Manchester United and there are already concerns in Italy about the 41-year-old. Milan are winless in pre-season, losing 3-0 to Chelsea on Saturday.
Before joining Milan and his move from Sporting to United, Chelsea were interested in Amorim.
In fact, it was even claimed that Chelsea held a meeting with Amorim as they prepared for life after Mauricio Pochettino.
Chelsea had doubts about Amorim’s suitability to their squad, though, and went for Enzo Maresca instead, which proved to be a wise decision.
Head coach Ruben Amorim of AC Milan and manager Xabi Alonso of Chelsea FC shake hands
Photo by Peksi Cahyo/Getty Images
Things ended quite ugly between Maresca and Chelsea, but the Italian did guide the Blues back into the Champions League and managed to lead them to silverware. In contrast, Amorim had a torrid time at United, and while it was only a friendly, he would not have filled Milan fans with confidence after the defeat to Chelsea.
Ultimately, that match was a small reminder that Chelsea dodged a bullet not hiring Amorim when they had the opportunity to.
Again, it was only a friendly, but Chelsea have not been great in pre-season either, yet they still managed to dispose of Milan very easily.
On Saturday, there is no doubt that BlueCo would have been glad to see Xabi Alonso in their dugout instead of Amorim.