Many Chelsea fans were underwhelmed when Carlo Ancelotti signed Yossi Benayoun from Liverpool for a reported £5.5 million as a replacement for Joe Cole, who went the other way on a free transfer.
Benayoun’s critics frustrations must be further compounded when they see the impressive form of Rafael van der Vaart for London rivals Tottenham, who missed out on Joe Cole themselves when the England man opted for an Anfield move. I can’t help but feel Chelsea have missed a trick by not attempting to sign the Dutchmen before the close of the summer transfer window.
At 27 van der Vaart is probably into his peak years and has already won a lot of praise for his performances since arriving at White Hart Lane from Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, who deemed the attacking midfielder as surplus to requirements after another summer spending spree which saw the likes of Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira join Los Blancos.
This season van der Vaart has so far scored seven goals in 11 games for Spurs and was the Premier League Player of the Month for October – which is so far so good for a player who cost just £8 million and someone who his former club were quite desperate to get rid of.
In comparison, 30-year old Benayoun’s best years are most likely behind him. I feel that as we had a whole summer to find a Cole replacement we did not need to act so quickly and should have perhaps weighed up our options a little more. Since his arrival at Stamford Bridge the Israeli midfielder has made just five appearances scoring one goal, but in his defence he was putting in some decent performances just before his ruptured Achilles injury against Newcastle in the Carling Cup.
It would seem as though Dutch players who have recently had mixed fortunes at Real Madrid do well after leaving the Bernabeu such as Wesley Sneider, who won the treble with Inter Milan last season and former Blues winger Arjen Robben, who won a domestic double and a Champions League runners-up medal with Bayern Munich.
Although it is ridiculous to suggest of a team who scored 141 goals in all competitions last term, but Chelsea did appear to lack a certain spark of creativity at moments during the last campaign and particularly in the Champions League. Top flight European ties can often be tight affairs and the artistry of players such as Sneijder pays dividends (as Chelsea witnessed first hand).
The fans recognised this and during the summer months there were calls on many fan forums for the club to sign a highly rated playmaker or an additional forward to take some of the burden off of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. Understandably many were frustrated to see the likes of Özil and van der Vaart head to Real Madrid and Tottenham respectively, whilst also coming relatively cheap in terms of transfer fees.
On the bright side, the club appears to be producing some of the most promising young talents than we have had in years and the Stamford Bridge faithful have high hopes for Gael Kakuta and Josh McEachran, who could hopefully provide the Blues with something different.
Do you think Chelsea missed a trick by not signing someone of Rafael van der Vaart’s ilk during the summer?
