Borussia Dortmund defender Julian Ryerson believes Chelsea’s January spending spree may put the London club at a disadvantage ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash.
The Blues completed eight incoming transfers in the January transfer window, including a record-breaking deal for Enzo Fernandez on the deadline day.
While only three of these signings; Fernandez, Joao Felix, and Mykhailo Mudryk, made Graham Potter’s Champions League squad for the knock-out stages, the manager will still have to make a few changes in the team for the first-leg against Dortmund.
The most obvious ones are Benoit Badiashile and Noni Madueke, who started against West Ham.
In addition to that, despite Fernandez and Felix’s recent stellar performance, they are still trying to adapt to their Chelsea teammates and vice versa.
Dortmund right-back Ryerson insisted that this could prove problematic for Chelsea.
“It’s also a challenge for them,” the Norway international said about Chelsea’s recent transfers in his pre-match press conference (via Halterner Zeitung).
“We’re definitely more attuned.”
Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic, on the other hand, argued that these new players make Chelsea rather unpredictable.
“It’s not easy to analyse the whole thing,” he explained.
“There was a lot of movement in this transfer window, and when [Chelsea’s squad] was announced, we were naturally very curious.
“You don’t know exactly what line-up they will be playing with here. We will prepare for everything.”
In fairness, both are likely true. But at the same time, it is also clear that the presence of Felix, Fernandez, and Mudryk significantly improves the quality of this Chelsea side.
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