Chelsea had an extremely busy summer transfer window and Blues chiefs are happy with the business they conducted despite a failure to recruit a midfielder on deadline day
Moises Caicedo
Moises Caicedo could return to action for Chelsea after the international break(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA)
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Chelsea ended the summer transfer window by causing uproar amongst supporters online after failing to land a replacement for Enzo Fernandez.
Manchester City finally reached a £125million deal to sign the Argentina international in the final hours of the window and in the evening, they made a breakthrough to sign Lamine Camara. The Blues struck a £47m deal with AS Monaco to sign the Senegal international but the Ligue 1 club decided to pull the plug later in the night, leaving Chelsea shorthanded.
Fernandez had been embroiled in a summer-long transfer saga and while some of his colleagues wanted him to remain at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea chiefs felt as if the now Man City midfielder had run his course at Stamford Bridge.
His midfield partner Moises Caicedo was one of those keen on Fernandez continuing to play his football in west London. football.london was among the media outlets that spoke to Caicedo during Chelsea's time in Hong Kong over pre-season, and the Ecuadorian was clear in his answer to a question relating to Fernandez's future.
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"I love Enzo," said Caicedo last month. "He knows I have a lot of respect for him because, as we know, the player he is. Not just the player, he is a great person.
"I want him to stay, but I am not going to talk about that. If he stays here, it's going to be massive for us."
By the time Fernandez departed Stamford Bridge, it seemed the majority of supporters - online, anyway - had accepted selling the wantaway Argentinian was the right thing to do for the club. However, there was a big condition: signing another central midfielder.
Chelsea ended up missing out on Camara through no fault of their own but many feel as if the Monaco man should have been signed earlier in the transfer window, rather than the Blues leaving it to the last minute.
Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo
Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo celebrate(Image: Jacques Feeney/Offside)
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The failure to land the Senegal international has left new manager Xabi Alonso short of bodies in the engine room in his debut season at the club. On paper, six options doesn't sound too bad, especially with no European football to contend with, but context is needed.
Caicedo, of course, is one of them - and is widely regarded Chelsea's most important midfielder - but his 14-minute cameo against Brighton last month is his sole appearance thus far this season. The Ecuadorian has been struggling with a persistent calf injury after sustaining the problem in the days before the season opener against Fulham on August 24.
Romeo Lavia is another option for Alonso. There are concerns, though, about overplaying the Belgium international given his torrid injury record. And the same can be said about Reece James, another option in the middle, who was unavailable for England selection for the ongoing international break due to a hamstring problem.
James is also a natural right-back and while there are elements of the captain's game that suits playing in a central role, there are other elements that show his inexperience there. The same can be said about Malo Gusto.
Lamine Camara
Lamine Camara was close to signing for Chelsea on deadline day(Image: Kevin Clement/Icon Sport)
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Jordan Henderson made his Chelsea debut in the final game before the international break. The 36-year-old performed well on his debut away at former club Brentford but couldn't help the Blues get anything from the Gtech Community Stadium.
While supporters were likely impressed with what they saw from Henderson, they will not want the former Liverpool captain to be a regular starter given he is in the latter stages of his career.
Chelsea fans will be eager to see more of Valentin Barco in a blue shirt after the international break. The 22-year-old Argentine has played just over 100 minutes in the Premier League thus far this term after signing from Strasbourg but has left a lot of supporters wanting to see him more.
The expectation is that Caicedo will be fit and available for selection once club football returns and everything should start to look a lot more rosy for Alonso once that does happen. However, there is no doubting that Chelsea's options in midfield worsened following Fernandez's big-money departure at the start of the month.
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