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Photo by EyesWideOpen/Getty Images
Image of Bournemouth's Alex Scott looking off camera during a match against Liverpool, with a news overlay about him potentially being on sale in January
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Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
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Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
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Photo by David Horton - CameraSport via Getty Images
A graphic showing Jordan Henderson's match statistics (goals, assists, key passes and pass completion rate) against for Chelsea FC against Bournemouth. Image shows Jordan Henderson celebrating.
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Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
Graham Potter and Liam Rosenior were two of the worst, if not the two worst, Chelsea managers in the Premier League era. Then you have signings such as Mykhailo Mudryk — an £89m arrival who has ended up on loan at London rivals Tottenham Hotspur…
The reality is Mudryk is never going to trigger enough add-ons for his final fee to reach £89m, which is bad news for Shakhtar Donetsk. That and so many of BlueCo’s other signings have just not worked out.
For all the criticism Chelsea’s owners and sporting directors have faced, though, they have done a much better job than their Manchester United counterparts.
Winstanley and Stewart for Chelsea
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Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly beat Sir Jim Ratcliffe to Chelsea purchase
Chelsea fans should be relieved that it was Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali’s Clearlake Capital who won the race to purchase the club more than four years ago. United’s minority owners, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, wanted to buy Chelsea when Abramovich was forced to sell up and made a very late bid.
That bid probably came a bit too late, and Boehly and Eghbali were able to get their hands on one of English football’s most prestigious clubs. The last four years have been a real learning experience for them.
Of course, Boehly is no longer at Chelsea after selling his stake to Clearlake. But just before his departure, he watched the Blues alter their transfer strategy after a season where they finished 10th in the Premier League table.
Eventually, there was an acceptance that the Chelsea side assembled by the sporting directors was too young and inexperienced and needed to be more balanced. As a result, during the summer, Chelsea brought in the likes of Jordan Henderson (36), Danny Welbeck (35) and Emiliano Martinez (34), and they are already reaping the benefits for completing those deals.
Henderson scored a brace against Bournemouth last weekend and put in a very mature performance in the middle of the park. After a run of three games without victory, he really stepped up. So, for every Mudryk, there has perhaps been a Henderson, a signing that has borne fruit. At United, however, there have not been too many of those.
Chelsea’s recruitment under BlueCo has been significantly better than Manchester United’s under INEOS
You can probably count on one hand the number of successful signings United have made under INEOS. In fact, you probably only need two fingers! Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha come to mind, but other than those two, there are no other standout names.
The signs are already not looking good for the players they purchased during the summer. One of those players is Andrey Santos, who was brought in from Chelsea.
United paid £50m for the Brazilian, but he has really struggled at Old Trafford and has already lost his place in the starting XI. Santos has made just one start in the Premier League this term and not played a single minute in any of the Red Devils’ previous three top-flight games.
Things are not going to plan for Youri Tielemans either, one of United’s other first-team signings. His mobility is really under the microscope right now, with his critics feeling that the Belgian cannot get up and down the pitch quickly enough.
All in all, United have just not bought the right players. There have been so many signings who have not been a right fit or simply failed to adapt to the Premier League.
There are far too many additions failing to simply blame this on the individuals or manager. This falls on the owners and the sporting structure that they have put in place.
In contrast, while you could make a whole list of Chelsea signings under BlueCo who have failed, you could probably also make a list of ones who have succeeded. It is early days, but some will already feel inclined to add Morgan Rogers to that list.
If you look at the 2025 summer transfer window, you then have Joao Pedro, who has been better than every signing United have made since Ratcliffe’s arrival at Old Trafford.
Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Marco Cucurella and Pedro Neto have also been successes. And then you, of course, have Cole Palmer, who cost Chelsea just £40m. One of world football’s best attackers for just £40m, United’s business does not match up.
Yes, at the time, Palmer was not an elite talent, but that is why Chelsea deserve credit. Their sporting directors and scouts identified someone who would be a right fit for the team and have the potential to be a success in the Premier League. At United, that has not been happening and undoubtedly contributed to what has been a disastrous season so far.
Chelsea would be in worse position under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS
There is a simple conclusion here. There have been ups and downs at Chelsea under BlueCo and so many things the club’s owners could have done better.
Yet they have still won two trophies and made some very good signings. Under Ratcliffe and INEOS, based on what is going on at United, Chelsea would be in a worse position had they bought the club in 2022.
However, with the direction that United are heading in under Ratcliffe, Chelsea should not be comparing themselves to the Red Devils. Instead, the Blues need to be looking up and seeing how, as painful as it sounds, they can imitate Arsenal.