How Chelsea would sign Michael Olise without selling Noni Madueke

Recent days and weeks have seen rumours about Chelsea wanting to sign Michael Olise from Crystal Palace start to intensify.

That has in turn led to rumours about Noni Madueke leaving the club. The winger would be considered by some as a bit of a spare part should Olise arrive.

But Simon Johnson’s transfer explainer in the Athletic today says Chelsea won’t see it that way. They see Madueke and Olise competing to play on that right hand side.

As Johnson points out, the idea that Chelsea are keeping as their central “mantra” is that you need “two players for every position.” In this case, Olise and Madueke would be those two players on the right wing.

Johnson adds that this would mean Cole Palmer moving more centrally. Palmer did well on the right and centrally last season, and a lot would depend on how new manager Enzo Maresca intends to use him.

Moving your problems around the pitch

That’s all well and good, and it allows you to get Olise into the team without selling Madueke.

But it creates problems of its own – if you move Palmer centrally, you’re just moving your issue elsewhere. We’d then have Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, Enzo Fernandez, Conor Gallagher, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei and others all competing for that role instead. Effectively you just shift your problems of overcrowding to a new part of the pitch.

It also ignores the right wing issues next summer when players like Kendry Paez and Estevao Willian will arrive. Let alone other options available now, like Omari Hutchinson, who will surely not be too excited about his future at Chelsea if Olise comes in.

We can see the logic of keeping Madueke and signing Olise too – but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking it won’t create some form of log jam in the squad.