Chelsea sporting directors reflect on transfer policy & record-setting debut season
- Paul Winstanley & Laurence Stewart have led Chelsea's transfer business
- The pair have overseen a mass rebuild & spent record amounts of money
- Mauricio Pochettino was also hired by Winstanley & Stewart
By Tom Gott
Chelsea co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart have admitted they did not expect to break Premier League records with their hectic transfer spree.
The duo have been in charge of Chelsea's business since arriving at Stamford Bridge last season, spending enormous sums and overseeing a near-complete rebuild of the playing squad in the process.
Opting to build a younger core, the decision has not yet led to success but both Winstanley and Stewart are confident that Chelsea will drastically improve in the near future.
"We knew there was going to be a big transition," Winstanley told club media. "No chance to sit back and relax, that’s for sure. Did we think we would oversee a Premier League record of transactions? Probably not.
"But the average age of the squad was high, we had players with contract issues which had been inherited from an ownership change, and then there were players who made it clear they wanted to leave. That needed to be addressed."
Stewart added: "The volume of players out, the volume of players in, the turnaround has been significant. But there were certain things we had to achieve for the club, and for the group, this summer because results on the pitch at the end of last season made it clear it wasn’t working. We had to make changes to put the club in a better position. We feel we’ve done that."
Despite their free-willed spending, Winstanley and Stewart have faced some criticism following claims that they refused to target players like 26-year-old James Maddison, who was recently named the Premier League's Player of the Month after joining Tottenham Hotspur from Leicester City, because he was 'too old' for the club's current vision.
"There will always be flexibility in terms of the players we bring to the club, whether that is their personality, squad role, or age," Winstanley argued. "This summer, a lot of players were brought in who are under 23 years old, but many of these already have a lot of top-level experience.
"With this group of players, the excitement is building. You can feel it daily. There will be setbacks, there always are, and it can take time: new players, new head coach, different philosophy, and many of the players not being able to complete a full pre-season for one reason or another.
"It won’t happen overnight, that’s normal, but we are all excited about what the short-, medium- and long-term looks like with this group with Mauricio leading it.
"We want players that want to fight for the club, that want to fight every day for each other, for results, for the supporters, for the staff. This club knows how to win, it knows how to succeed. So it’s important to bring in players that align with building something special here and we will get stronger as a team and club as we head deeper into the season."
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