Having moved both André Schürrle and Mohamed ‘Egyptian Messi’ Salah in the January transfer window and only bringing in a single replacement, for the second straight season Chelsea ended winter lighter in attacking midfield than they started. But did they mean to?
If the Telegraph is to be believed, perhaps not.
The owners of the world's most circumventable paywall are reporting that the Blues tried to recall Victor Moses from his season-long loan at Stoke City (where he's been consistently very good) in what was ultimately a vain attempt to reinforce the attack. The reason it failed, apparently, was that Moses was enjoying his time in the first team and, like any footballer, wasn't very happy about the idea of going to Stamford Bridge just to sit on the bench. And unlike a transfer, it's not like he'd have made more money out of it.
That we tried and failed to get a decent player in addition to Juan Cuadrado makes me feel a little bit better about our depth. Sure, it didn't actually solve the problem, but at least the club's aware of it.