Chelsea have been something of a mixed bag this season, entering title-chasing conversations (which Enzo Maresca played down) before the festive period but since hitting a choppy patch emblematic of a young outfit finding its feet.
Still, there’s much to be excited about, with Cole Palmer and the frontline promising exciting football for many years to come. It’s a depleted frontline right now though, with Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu both sidelined for the foreseeable future.
It means that other wide forwards will need to step up over the forthcoming period, with the fourth-place Blues’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League on a knife edge. A host of rivals press against the top four.
Palmer can’t do it alone, and one star who will certainly need to recapture their finest form is Jadon Sancho.
Why Chelsea signed Jadon Sancho
Principally, Chelsea added to their loaded flanks with the signing of Sancho because the financial conditions were too arresting to ignore.
After joining Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth £73m in 2021, Sancho quickly fell by the wayside and needed a way out.
He’s got bags of quality, thrashing down the flank with the easy and quick gait of a natural-born footballer. Indeed, Sancho ranks among the top 12% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the Premier League this year for progressive carries (5.34) and the top 8% for successful take-ons (2.83) per 90, as per FBref, so he’s hardly motionless, absent, when on the wing.
But Sancho, 23, is also inconsistent, with Fabrizio Romano even noting that the England winger has not been “performing like he was at the start of the season” over the past few weeks.
Chelsea bowed out of the FA Cup against Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend (they have a chance to exact revenge this evening) and Sancho was among the biggest no-showers, failing with all three dribble attempts and losing each of his seven duels, as per Sofascore.
The finances might have been tidy, but Chelsea might have blundered in getting rid of a homegrown prospect and then welcoming Sancho to the fold.
Chelsea have already sold a bigger talent than Sancho
Cobham chiefs always knew that they had a top talent on their hands in Omari Hutchinson, but his pathway to the first team was filled with roadblocks, and when Ipswich Town offered a £20m package to Chelsea last summer after he spent the previous term on loan at Portman Road in the Championship, it felt like a no-brainer.
Where Are They Now
He’s been an important part of the Tractor Boys’ fight to avoid the pull of relegation, starting 22 Premier League matches and impressing with his underlying numbers, notably averaging 1.5 dribbles and 4.5 duels per game, as per Sofascore.
Sancho is one of the most expensive English footballers in history, but talent isn’t necessarily quantifiable through transfer fees. Look at another young winger, Callum Hudson-Odoi, who Chelsea sold to Nottingham Forest for just £5m in 2023. He’s found his footing.
Hutchinson didn’t come cheap for Ipswich though, and has showcased his talents under Kieran McKenna, repaying the manager’s faith with two important Premier League goals – in a draw against Manchester United and, of course, Ipswich’s dramatic December win over Maresca’s Chelsea.
The 21-year-old’s silky dribbling and tenacious attitude suggest that he has a big future ahead of him. He’s only missed one big chance in the Premier League this term, averaging 1.3 shots per fixture, so hasn’t been profligate in front of goal, just part of Town’s troubles to impose their collective might on opponents.
And it’s tough, moving to England’s top division and looking to impress. Sancho knows this. The difference, however, is that the Three Lions international has played his Premier League career with Manchester United and Chelsea, two of Europe’s foremost outfits.
Sure, both have struggled in recent years, but Sancho has been outshone by fellow forwards and lacks the clinical edge (both through goalscoring and creating slants) that truly speaks of his quality as a “generational talent,” as he has been called in the past by scout Jacek Kulig.
Game recognises game. In fact, the late and legendary footballer Pele even praised Hutchinson in the past, with the youngster – who has been dubbed a “beautiful player” by journalist Josh Bunting – catching the eye at a Futsal tournament the Brazil hero was attending.
Hutchinson looks back fondly at the cardinal moment in his development: “It was a crazy experience. He was at Brentford training ground and we were playing a tournament, and at the end of it, they told one player from each team to do some skills.
“I didn’t really want to go up, but everyone just sort of pushed me up. So I did my skills, and then we took a group photo with him, and he said I could rest on his knee.”
Hutchinson’s background in Futsal, a more contained five-a-side version of football played on a hardcourt, like basketball, has no doubt influenced his dribbling ability, with fleet-footedness a major advantage due to the cramped nature of the game.
We’ve already touched on Hutchinson’s metrics this term, but when they are collated against Sancho’s, you truly start to see the bigger picture – and why Chelsea made a mistake in casting out one of their own. Again.
Matches (starts)
18 (13)
22 (22)
Goals
2
2
Assists
4
1
Touches*
36.8
44.4
Shots (on target)*
0.9 (0.2)
1.3 (0.6)
Pass completion
86%
83%
Big chances created
4
4
Key passes*
1.2
0.9
Dribbles*
1.9
1.9
Ball recoveries*
3.4
3.5
Tackles + interceptions*
0.5
1.3
Total duels won*
2.7
4.5
There’s a lot to unpack in that table, but it’s interesting that Hutchinson is able to hit the same ballpark as Sancho across many different metrics, creating the same number of big chances, out-duelling him and matching him for dribbling.
Sancho is only a loanee at the moment, but Todd Boehly’s negotiations with United have seen a buy option worth around £25m instated, active through certain clauses.
Sancho is a talented winger and is capable of playing an important role for Chelsea, but you have to wonder whether the whole ordeal was really worth it. The £150k-per-week star is in danger of being outstripped by Hutchinson over the coming campaigns.
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