Former Premier League star provides a fresh take on Chelsea’s January transfer acumen

Talksport pundit Danny Murphy insists Chelsea have overpaid in the transfer market

Speaking on Talksport Radio (h/t Daily Mail), football pundit Danny Murphy believes that Chelsea have overpaid to sign players in the transfer market.

The Blues signed eight players during the January transfer window, spending more than £300m in the process. They broke the British transfer record by getting Enzo Fernandez for a deal that cost them around £106.8m on the deadline day.

The other big signing made during that time was Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk for £88.5m. The plan behind these big-money signings is to amortise the payment over the duration of the contracts. Fernandez has a contract here until 2031. His transfer fee payment is amortised for that length of time.

Murphy though, believes that Chelsea have overpaid for players and have got their pants pulled down (h/t Daily Mail):

“I think they are overpaying for players and I still don’t think the majority of their first XI gets anywhere near City’s team.

“I watched a few of his [Enzo] games live. He’s decent, but not worth £100m. They’ve been absolutely bent over there.

“They are overspending on players and people are seeing them coming and they are taking their pants down.”

It is not right to accuse the club of overpaying when there is a release clause involved. We all know Chelsea were adamant to get Fernandez, while Benfica were hell-bent on his clause to be paid if the deal was to be forged.

The Argentina midfielder has shown how good a player he is during the World Cup and in the first half of the club season. As a matter of fact, he was very good for River Plate before last summer too. It is just that certain people only watch a player when he comes to the European circuit.

As much as it is a risky strategy to sign players for big money and long-duration of contracts, it at least shows that the owners are willing to back the manager in reshaping the squad for a potentially brighter future.

More Chelsea News:

• La Liga’s top executive has expressed doubt about Chelsea and the Premier League regarding spending prowess
• Chelsea could sell Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Koulibaly among others in the 2023 summer window
• Graham Potter happy with the debut performance of Benoit Badiashile for Chelsea

The cliché is that when the player is on the field, it is his game that talks, not his transfer fee. We would expect players like Fernandez to show how good he is, which would shut out people who are constantly talking about transfer fees.