Proof Chelsea's 'Vision 2030' is coherent

Stuart Telford

• 29 Sept 2023 18:09 BST
• 4 min read

Chelsea may be floundering in the Premier League after spending nearly £1 billion on players under Todd Boehly, but there is method behind the madness if AI is to be believed.

The Blues have signed 31 players since Boehly replaced Roman Abramovich in ownership of the club in May 2022, moving through five managers in the process, but none of the changes have paid off as yet.

Chelsea finished 12th under Graham Potter last season, and are currently two places worse off with Mauricio Pochettino six Premier League games into his reign.

READ: What is Chelsea's best possible XI according to AI?

But Boehly has long had a 'Vision 2030' for the club - an attempt to recruit the best young players in the world now who will come good by the end of the decade - and they are doing well in that regard according to FootballTransfers' official data partner, SciSports.

— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) July 20, 2023

Christopher Nkunku is yet to play a competitive game for the Blues following his €60 million arrival from RB Leipzig this summer, and won't for at least another four months after undergoing knee surgery, but he is still only 25 and by 2030 will have reached his SciSports potential of 123.3, which is a team third-best.

His partnership with Nicolas Jackson looked promising in pre-season, and while his potential score is only 98.9, that nonetheless puts him on a par with currents attackers in the world game like Bayer Leverkusen's goal-machine Victor Boniface and Joao Felix, once of Chelsea and now at Barcelona.

READ: Chelsea injury list: The incredible XI worth €400m Pochettino is missing

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the above selection is that Enzo Fernandez - an Argentina World Cup winner and British record transfer - doesn't make it in, but that's testament to Chelsea's current and future strength in depth in Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and, behind them, Andrey Santos.

Chelsea's 'Vision 2030' XI?

Further back, there is plenty of room for Cobham academy graduates too. Reece James was made club captain this summer and figures to keep his place, injury permitting, for a long time to come.

Interestingly, Ian Maatsen on the opposite flank should overtake Ben Chilwell by the end of the decade, his potential rating of 113.6 in excess of Ben Chilwell's at 106.2.

Only Caicedo (132.7) has a higher potential than Levi Colwill (130.3) among players currently on Chelsea's books, and he will have long since replaced Thiago Silva at the heart of the Blues defence if he hasn't done so already.