Chelsea Are Showing Man Utd Up With Their Transfer Activity This Summer

Manchester United and Chelsea both finished the 2019/20 season on 66 points and both achieved their main target for the campaign: Champions League qualification.

But this shouldn't take away from the fact that both clubs finished a country mile behind title winners Liverpool - 33 points to be precise. That's half of their overall points tallies which is...well, a fair amount.

Meanwhile, Manchester City - who were disappointing at points - still finished some 15 points clear of United and Chelsea. All of the above tells you that are changes required at both clubs this summer if they wish to close the gap on the top two for 2020/21.

Of course, this isn't a normal summer transfer window. Considering the current financial climate, a smart transfer strategy would need to be adopted in order to land first-choice targets, while departures would also be required.

While both Chelsea and Man Utd came into the summer window in need of reinforcements, they have taken two polar opposite approaches to the market so far.

Elsewhere, the Old Trafford club's interest in Grealish has dragged on and they are now facing the prospect of not signing him due to the hefty asking price. If United had acted quicker, they wouldn't be in this position. In contrast, Frank Lampard made Chilwell his number one left-back target this summer and while they were quoted as much as £80m at one stage for his services by Leicester, they are now close to sealing a deal for around £50m.

But for all the money Chelsea have spent so far this summer, perhaps the shrewdest piece of business is the impending signing of Thiago Silva on a free transfer. A deal has been agreed and the player is expected to complete his move in the coming days. Chelsea will be getting a proven winner, who will bring experience and leadership to the team. And they will do so without paying a transfer fee.

The club also reached an agreement to sign the Brazilian in just a matter of days, that's all it took. Now, we're not saying United should have tried to sign Silva, but merely that this deal encapsulates all that has been good about Chelsea in the transfer market this summer - and equally, all things bad about United's approach.

The Blues identified Silva as the centre-back they need in the short-term and acted swiftly to make it happen. Man Utd, meanwhile, are watching on as time passes them by without taking any kind of decisive action. If Grealish is out of their reach, an alternative target should already be lined up.

Perhaps Donny van de Beek is that man. The versatile Dutch midfielder is available for around £40m (half of what Villa are asking for), and he would bring everything Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is after. At this moment in time, the Red Devils are seemingly continuing to weigh up their options, but this simply isn't good enough at this stage. Decisive action must be taken.

Now, of course, one of the main reasons Chelsea are actually capable of signing so many star names this summer is down to the fact that they have/will offload a number of players. Willian and Pedro have both already left, while the likes of Emerson, Tiemoué Bakayoko, Davide Zappacosta, Danny Drinkwater and a number of others are also expected to depart this summer.

As for United, the likes of Chris Smalling, Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones and Andreas Pereira among others are expected to be sold - but there has been no movement on this front yet either. Sure, Alexis Sanchez has been sold permanently to Inter now, but considering the Italian giants were keen to sign him after impressing during a loan spell, this was hardly down to United's tactics in the negotiations.

Man Utd are showing no ambition at this moment in time, with regards to their incomings and outgoings. They have the money to make the Sancho deal happen, but unlike Chelsea have done with Havertz, they are trying to play hard ball with a club who have no obligation to sell unless their valuation is met. It's proven unsuccessful and it will cost them.

Few would have claimed during the 2019/20 season that Chelsea could challenge for the league title next term, but considering their transfer activity so far, this has become a possibility. United desperately want to be part of that discussion once again, but the difference at this moment in time is the Blues are showing the necessary ambition to get back to the top.


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Source : 90min