An open letter to Chelsea Football Club

Dear Chelsea Football Club,

Transfer windows keep the fans interested in football even when there is no actual action on the pitch, like the summer transfer window. It is that time of the year where fans discuss with one another who should their respective clubs buy. Which position needs strengthening, and which position needs backup players.

Not always do the clubs get the players the fans wish for, which of course is obvious. Imagine a fan saying, "How I wish my club bought Alexis Sanchez" and then the next day the club starts to prepare a bid for the player just because a fan wants him. It's not like buying vegetables. "Oh, you know what, I might as well also buy this tomato. There's no harm in that."

There are greater risks and costs involved when dealing with which players to buy. We fans understand that some players are just out of reach. Like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. We know that even having a thought of them playing for Chelsea is impossible for years to come.

But what I don't understand is that why do you not give managers their 1st choice players? Again, I am not saying give the manager whatever he wants. That is again not possible. What I mean is instead of buying 2 or 3 players for a position from the 2nd, 3rd or 4th choice targets of the manager, give him his 1st choice. That would save you a lot of time and money.

The club has spent more than £100m on left-backs ever since Cole departed

For example, the club has been trying to get a perfect replacement for Ashley Cole ever since he left the club but hasn't been able to do so yet. The no.1 problem for that is not the fact that there are no players available to replace him. But the fact that you only think about the short-term goals. You keep changing your managers after every couple of seasons which does not help. But I will not get into that, as that itself is another article.

As I was saying, instead of getting the 2nd or the 3rd choice player of the manager, get the 1st choice. It will cost a little more but you can be sure of the fact that the manager will be happy, the fans will be happy and the club will do well.

Like for instance, instead of buying Davide Zappcosta for £23m and now you are on the verge of buying Emerson Palmieri for a reported fee of another £20m, you could have just bought Alex Sandro for £60m. It is a little more but all the parties would have been happy. And to get back up or squad depth in the team, integrate the youngsters.

There are great youngsters in the club who deserve to get a chance to prove themselves instead of being getting loaned out every year. Instead of saying that the player needs the "right step", play them. Look at John Terry. He made only 8 appearances for Nottingham Forest before being a regular for the Blues. There is no way that he would have acquired the "experience" and "exposure" that you were looking for.

It is time to stop sending players out on loan

Charley Musonda, Dujon Sterling, Tammy Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, etc. These are just a few names of the players who, I believe, are worthy enough of playing for Chelsea. They deserve to play week-in-week-out for the club to improve and get that "experience".

I agree that times have changed a lot since then, but I do hope you get my point. It is because of the short-term goals that managers do not wish to play the youngsters as they know it would cost them their job by not winning trophies. You have to start thinking about the long-term goals. There might be a dry spell for a brief amount of time but the future will be bright. "Today's pain will bring tomorrow's gain".

The club nearly spent £200m this summer but has that solved any problems? No. Has that made the manager or the fans happy? No. Has that given the club the chance to fight for various competitions? Probably not. By now, you know what went wrong and how you could have handled things differently.

Antonio Conte knows about the Italian football and hence target players from that league. That's good. But you are missing out on players from the German market. There are fantastic players in that league and because I assume, no one has much knowledge about that league, we tend to miss out on great players. Get someone in like Peter Bosz or Thomas Tuchel, just an example, who are familiar with the German market that could help the club recruit top players at a young age and for a decent price.

I know the club is planning to have a new stadium built that could cost almost £1b and hence you do not wish to spend a lot. But just think about it. £200m spent in the summer and that still did not solve our problems. Time for a change?

Regards,

A Chelsea fan