Why it was so vital to get £14m signing to Cobham this week – but problems remain | OneFootball

Chelsea have reached the end of their second week of preseason training at Cobham. The players now have a couple of days off, then the bulk of the squad depart for the USA on Monday.

One new addition spotted in this week’s training video was Renato Veiga, the Portugal youth international signed from Basel for around £14m last week. He was straight into the mix right away, dancing and celebrating with his teammates after winning one of the mini games. He looked really comfortable, like one of the group already.

This is a reminder of why it’s so essential for clubs to get transfer business done early. Tactically and physically it’s vital to get them integrated of course, but it’s also a question of helping them get settled. Tours like the one we’re going on next week are mainly promotional and commercial of course, but they also serve to bond the group together by getting them all together for an extended period to get to know each other.

Chelsea players running in preseason.

Chelsea’s summer drags on – various negatives

The rest of Chelsea’s business is sadly dragging on. The Euros haven’t helped as they have delayed the whole market’s movement, and nor has the fact that sales of some of our big names need to come before we can start bringing players in.

This goes for outgoing loans too – if we’re planning on sending, say, Lesley Ugochukwu to Everton for the season, we want him there as soon as possible so that he can start integrating himself there and show the manager what he can do. Let’s hope that this week to come brings major breakthroughs. Moving on players like Romelu Lukaku will hopefully open the floodgates financially and untie our hands to suddenly make a few moves in quick succession.